Last Man Standing
by Tilthanial
Summary: Prequel to "Report." When an Imperial penal colony erupts from within, Kasrkin Sergeants Leon Kane and Adin Cisk follow their Inquisitor Lord into the heart of the planet as they search for the instigators, and the demons that they spawned. Rated M for violence, language, and adult content in later chapters.
1. Dive into Hell

The Inquisitor's chamber always sent chills down my spine. We never left that room without a kill order. Not that we minded kill orders. Inquisitor Lord Verne was plenty fun. He always had the most dangerous and crazy assignments. Nothing compared to the apocalyptic killing grounds of Cadia, but demon hunts came close.

"You are late."

I forced down the slight bit of trepidation that threatened my stomach as the Lord Inquisitor turned to regard us. Cold, glittering eyes regarded us with passing interest before returning to the floating image above the table. The slim figure beside him, a golden-haired woman with hard grey eyes and a ruthless smile, stared longer. Her lips curved in a wicked smile as I returned her gaze. Interrogator Kairi. It had not been long enough since I had seen her last.

"Apologies, Lord. The medicae were overzealous in their examinations."

The woman's smile widened. Her teeth showed through blood-red lips, gleaming like daggers. Lord Verne merely shook his head and motioned for us to join them. We did, keeping a respectful distance away from the Inquisitor's squirrely henchwoman. Focusing on the image, I began picking details and names. A hive planet called Kairn. I did not recognize it, but it was designated a penal colony. That's where the scum of the Imperium went.

"Our target, Lord?"

"The hive planet Kairn is in the midst of a planet-wide riot. Communications from the Adeptus Arbites indicate demonic infestations are the root of the problem. Senior Judge Montcalm," a face appeared on screen, "is the highest ranking Arbites on the penal colony. We lost communications with him yesterday."

"The planet's going to hell?"

Both Inquisition members bristled at the question. I offered a careless shrug.

"Are we hunting demons or hunting cultists," my companion asked. Adin's pale face gleamed with the faintest sheen of sweat. Lord Verne's face soured in distaste at his shoddy appearance, especially the thin beard showing on his jaw. Some Inquisitors loosened grooming standards for their troops. Lord Verne did not. He hated facial hair.

"For now, we are hunting a psyker. Demons may yet come of it, but there have been no critical infestations worth our attention. Extracting key personnel will be counted on a case-by-case basis."

We waited for him to continue. The image zoomed, shifted, and a list of names came to the forefront. I did not recognize the names, but I knew the titles. _Sister Superior Myrabeth. Sister Cammi. Sister…_

"Adepta Sororitas? What are they doing there?"

"The Adepta Sororitas uses the penal colony as one of many training grounds for Sister Hospitallers. They have a small detachment on the world at this moment. If we should run into these they will provide valuable support and local knowledge."

"Are they a mission priority?"

"No." The finality in the Inquisitor's tone left no room for argument. "They are expendable. We are all expendable."

The doors opened behind us and a fifth figure entered the room. I turned to watch, curious at the unfamiliar armor and markings on his gear. A Guard sergeant, in dress uniform decorated with a dozen medals and ribbons. He was a bear of a man, with short black hair gelled straight and a burn scar on his right hand. It showed when he came to attention, snapping a crisp salute.

"Sergeant Opryszko reporting sir."

"Phantine," I muttered, eyeing the unit patch on his shoulder. "Nice."

The sergeant shot me a sidelong glance. "Kasrkin. Interesting."

"Find yourselves interesting all you want," Interrogator Kairi said, catching our attention with a soft voice. "On your own time. The clock is ticking, gentlemen. Sergeant Opryszko, is your team situated?"

"That they are Miss. My thanks for the accommodations."

"Team?" I eyed the Inquisitor Lord sharply. "This _is_ serious, isn't it?"

"Sergeant Opryszko and his squad are members of the Phantine Skyborne. They are an elite urban combat unit."

"I've heard of them."

"Then you know how effective they are in a hive. You could learn from these men, Sergeant Kane."

"Of that I have no doubt, my Lord." At his permission I turned and introduced us. "Senior Sergeant Leon Kane. This is my comrade Troop Sergeant Adin Cisk. Pleasure to have you aboard."

His grip nearly crushed my hand. Offering a stone-faced grimace, he inspected our armor.

"We're not here for show," I said, letting the challenge hang in the air. The Phantine sergeant scowled. His grip increased, growing painful, and his eyes glistened. The Interrogator sighed. Stepping forward, she put a hand on each of our shoulders.

"Later, boys. Pay attention to the task at hand. Measure your dicks after we kill the demons." Her eyes twinkled playfully as she shot me a glance. "And make sure I'm invited."

"That is enough, Interrogator. Return to my side."

Lord Verne's frown could have stopped a Nob in its tracks. Giving the man one final challenging squeeze, I let go and followed Interrogator Kairi back to the table. He had brought the mission plan to view. The detailed pattern did not surprise me anymore. Inquisitor Lord Verne had the entire mission planned to the final letter. Not that the plan ever survived contact. But it made the Inquisitor happy, so we did not complain.

"We will be using the Phantine's Valkyrie to drop on the Arbites compound. Once we ascertain the nature of the infestation we will pursue the demonic presence and destroy it. The particulars of your roles are listed here…"

The Valkyrie's hold had been specially modified to hold two slightly smaller squads instead of one normal-sized squad. That did not mean that it would be uncramped. Between the Phantine squad and Lord Verne's retinue we were shoulder to shoulder. I sat between the psyker twins, Pae and Lonn. They were an odd bunch, even by psyker standards. They actually enjoyed sitting in the nullifying field my body projected. I did not believe them at first, but after a mission or two they proved to be quite accommodating.

Not that I would ever become friends with them. Psykers never remained long enough in an Inquisitor's service. More often than not they fell victim to the Warp, Chaos demons, or cultist fanatics. These were the third contingent of psykers under Lord Verne since my unit had been seconded.

Adin caught my attention with a hard-linked vox burst. Our company's encrypted channel had been broken by Lord Verne on the first day, but he hardly ever checked it. We did not expect any prying ears. I answered the vox with a blink that activated my end.

"Enjoying the ride," he asked, his teeth chattering. We rattled about the Valkyrie's hold as it cut through the cluttered satellite cemetery surrounding the planet. "Reminds me of a flak field."

"Flak fields are calmer," I replied. He raised his hand and I pounded it. The motion drew the attention of a couple members. Our channel buzzed as Lord Verne's Interrogator joined in on the fun. Adin and I immediately switched off the channel.

_Three minutes to DZ_, the pilot announced, his voice blaring over the internal radio. I slapped the psyker twins on the knees and offered a thumbs up. Neither appeared excited about the prospects facing them. The only person in the hold who showed any anticipation was the Interrogator. Interrogator Kairi had an unhealthy fascination with the hunt. She hardly seemed bothered by the fact that we were about to drop onto a planet of the verge of hell.

The Phantine sergeant's hands became a blur of motion as he began signaling his men. Three fingers out and chopped down and they began checking their packs. A two finger twist and they began slapping shells into their shotguns. It was all accomplished in a silent and efficient manner. By the time the shrill cry of the air brakes filled the hold they were locked and loaded for a fight.

The cabin depressurized rapidly as the side doors opened. The burning orange sun filled the hold, blinding the unshielded occupants. Choking smog swept in and through, but no one flinched. One Phantine soldier on each side rose and manned the heavy bolters. They scanned the spiraling rooftops for signs of trouble. I took it as a good sign that they did not fire.

_Touching down now. Clear the deck, lubbers._

The Phantine piled out, spilling out of the Valkyrie and forming a protective ring around the vessel. Adin and I leapt out on either side of Lord Verne, presenting an armored shield to ward off any sudden shots. The Inquisitor's retinue followed somewhat slower, not as quick on the take.

I was not going to lie, Lord Verne made for an impressive sight. On his vessel he wore the plain robes of a holy man. In the field he donned a specially woven duster inlaid with ablative threads. Under that was a set of finely crafted carapace armor. In addition to that he was protected by the consecrated charm of a refractor field. He was safer here than in his barge.

"Landing zone secured," Sergeant Opryszko reported. Two of his men broke away and approached the stairs leading down to the Arbites main structure. I followed their progress idly. The fact that there were no Arbitrators to greet us did not bode well. My hands itched under their gloves, straining on the trigger.

_Emperor's mercy watch over us._

"Kasrkin," Lord Verne said. He gestured towards the stairs. "Take the Phantine troopers and clear us a way to the Judge's office. Keep your eyes peeled for an ambush."

I saluted and headed for the stairs. Adin and Opryszko stuck on my heel, their weapons seeking out windows and doors as we crossed the back of the top floor. The city faded into mist a dozen stories below. Hundreds more stories led below that. I could not imagine how long it would take to hit the bottom. At that point a man would have died of suffocation.

The doors in were sealed. Shifting further down, we cleared the way for a diminutive corporal armed with a meltagun. He nodded once in my direction before bracing his feet and taking aim. Steaming slag sprayed across the grated walkway as the meltagun cut through the steel door. It took him a full minute to pierce the bars that held it shut.

Done, the corporal settled back and admired his work. Three neat holes the size of a man's fist marked the former locks on the doors. I slipped around the corporal and prodded the door with my foot. It opened easily.

"Good work, trooper."

"Corporal Anton."

The corporal smirked confidently. Attributing it to the cocky reputation of the Phantine, I eased him aside and gestured to Sergeant Opryszko. His shotgun provided the greatest defense in the cramped hallways of the Arbites compound. The Judge's office was close to the landing pad, as befitting the noble office. Visitors were entertained in the hall to the left. Visitor chambers on the right. The hallways were silent and dark, the lights dim. I felt my heart thudding relentlessly in my chest as we passed empty office after empty office.

A ruined set of grand doors marked the entrance to the First Hall. Dried blood coated the floor and the walls. Upturned desks were strewn against the walls, no doubt a failed barricade shoved to the side. It was not our objective, but I went to the door. Stepping inside, I leaned around and took a look.

Countless shotgun shells littered the floor in a sea of glittering brass. The mosaics detailing the glorious history of the Imperium lay in ruins, burned to ash in some places, shattered by shotgun blasts in others. It churned my stomach to see other, fouler things done to the storied art. Adin's heavy footsteps thumped beside me.

"So it always is," he sighed. I nodded slowly. "Can't wait to see the bastards burn."

"Just make sure you smoke the right ones."

I heard something muttered under Adin's breath, but he returned to the hallway before I could ask. Lord Verne waited silently outside. He paid the desecration a scant glance.

"Your horror of the heretics' sacrilege is commendable," he said, his voice flat and emotionless. "But time is not our ally here. Continue on, Kasrkin. I would see what remains of the Arbites."

"As you wish, my Lord."

The Judge's office stood just beyond the First Hall. These doors remained shut. I hesitated from the touching the door. Not content to trust the apparent safety, I checked my auspex. No contacts showed on the inside.

"Check it."

Opryszko lined up on one side of the door, Adin on the other. Standing in the middle, I loosened my legs. There was still a touch of tightness about my calves from the transport. Nodding to the others, I held up two fingers.

"Ready. Breach."

I kicked the door as hard as I could. The doors exploded inwards, propelled by my boot. Opryszko and Adin spun in to sweep the room, weapons at the ready. In the rush of movement I saw a wire snap.

The explosion engulfed the hallway. My head smashed into the wall as flames washed over my armor. Adin's bulky armor crashed into my legs and I tumbled to the ground. For a long moment I lay there, my visor darkened and my vox overloaded. Frantic screams rang in my ear. Groping hands pulled at my shoulder and I found myself being dragged down the hall.

Interrogator Kairi's face appeared over my visor. Her lips were pursed in a worried frown, and her hands moved in a dance as she deftly removed my helmet. The air stank of iron and blood. Her fingers wiped across my face, coming away bloody.

_Hold still, _she shouted, her voice strangely muted. I nodded and sat up. The motion sent a wave of dizziness and pain through my skull. The Interrogator caught me as I swayed, propping me up against the wall. My vision swam too badly for me to see anything.

_Perimeter! Set a perimeter now._

_Status!_

_Five men down. Five... By the Emperor that was-_

_Medic! Sergeant's going into shock. Medic!_

_Hold him down. Vlad, apply pressure here. Come on Sarge, don't pass out on me. Look me in the- Don't shut your eyes. No, keep your eyes open. Come on, come on, Vlad hurry up with that tourniquet._

_Munzi, drag the Kasrkin out of the way. Shit that's a lot of blood. Munzi, get his helmet off. Check his pulse. Is he dead? No, he's alive. That's good. What about the other one. Yes, Sergeant Kane._

"Sergeant Kane."

A pair of armored boots clomped into view. I leaned my head back and looked up, wincing slightly as a sliver of pain tweaked in my neck. Lord Verne stared down at me, his expression as calm as ever.

"Can you move, Kasrkin?"

"I think so."

Pulling myself to my feet, I took a hesitant step. My leg buckled and I fell against the wall, slamming hard into my shoulder. The armor dulled any pain I would have felt. Lord Verne tsked under his breath and motioned for me to sit down again. Continuing on, he passed by a lifeless Phantine soldier and stood over Adin's body. It hurt to turn by head, but I had to watch.

His body twitched violently, bucking like a man in the throes of seizure. Explicators Dondree and Munzi attended to him. Their medi-packs were open and ready. That was a good sign. Opened medi-packs meant he was going to survive. It did not look so good for the Phantine sergeant. I could not see much, but the frantic activity was a decent indicator.

Interrogator Kairi reappeared at my side. A wry, emotionless smile creased her lips and she motioned for me to stand up.

"We need to get out of the hallway. Come, I'll help you get into the room."

We staggered into a small office on the other side of the hall. This one had not been touched, but Interrogator Kairi swept the table clean with a single stroke of her arm. Valuable equipment shattered on the ground. Ignoring that, she helped me slide onto the table. It felt good to lie down.

"You look terrible," she said, wiping my face clean with the sleeve of her robe. Her fingers probed delicately at my face, checking for bruising or broken bones. My nose stung at her touch. I did not think it was broken though.

"Tripwire," I gasped. "Didn't see it until the doors were open."

"Of course." Her voice betrayed nothing. Despite her apparent calm her eyes flicked too often to mine, and for a moment I could have sworn she trembled.

"Were you hurt?"

"Me? No, I was unharmed." A cool hand pressed on my forehead, easing the throbbing pain in my skull. "Be still. You have a concussion at the least. Emperor knows how that did not kill you."

"I get that a lot," I joked. The feeble laugh I managed died when her glare turned icy.

"Men," she hissed. Turning abruptly, she left the room and returned to the hall. The shouting had died down, replaced by quiet murmurs and hushed orders. Sergeant Opryszko's body was dragged into the room by two of his men. The hulking man snored peacefully, out like a light. I could not help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

Only one had died. The unlucky Phantine trooper behind us had taken a chunk of door shrapnel through the throat. He had most likely died instantly from the trauma. For his sake, I hoped he had. Either way, we were in no position to move. Adin had walked away mostly unscathed, what I had seen earlier was his bionic arm spazzing from a fried circuit. His arm had absorbed the majority of the blast. But Sergeant Opryzsko and I were in no way to walk so soon. Lord Verne did not like it, but he ordered us to take a rest.

A two-man team scoured the Judge's quarters with Lord Verne while the rest of us settled into the untouched office space. The Explicators busied themselves with studying and downloading the records in the office, the psykers searched the near floors for signs of incoming enemies under the watchful eye of an armed Phantine soldier. It was not until they finished their psychic search that the man relaxed.

"We're clear," Pae said. "The explosion did not set off any alarms."

The news cheered us a little. My headache lessened as night fell, sped on its recovery by the Interrogator's delicate touch on my face. Interrogators were mainly known for their namesake, but in the process of learning how to cause pain they also learned how to relieve it. Her fingers found just the right points, working so smoothly that it made me shiver.

"Cold?" she asked. I shrugged helplessly. "I can fix that for you."

Butterflies danced in my stomach when she leaned forward and planted a teasing kiss on my cheek. She backed away, eyes sparkling, and winked.

"Think on that," she said. "And what I'm going to do to you when we finish this mission."

The Phantine soldiers stared after her as she slinked from the room. Corporal Anton half-stood, a question forming on his lips, but he shut his mouth when I shot him a warning glance. Now was not the time to talk about the Interrogator's eccentricities.

I tried sitting up, taking care to not rush. Corporal Anton helped hold me steady. Soot and dust coated his face and armor, making his bright blue eyes stand out comically. A single trail of blood trickled down his forehead.

"You alright, corporal?"

"Took a little knock. Don't worry about it."

My legs felt stiff as I slid off the table. Looking around, I took stock of the situation.

"How is your sergeant?"

Corporal Anton laughed, a boisterous, manly laugh that felt out of place with his small stature. He slapped my shoulder, reminding me how unusually strong Phantine were, and pointed to the other side of the room. Sergeant Opryszko sat by some of his men, his face a mass of cuts, a bottle of brandy in his hand. Seeing me watching, he waved the bottle and took a mighty swig.

"Found it in one of the drawers. Tastes like jet fuel. Still, it's better than using our water."

The bottle passed around until I got my turn. The smell made me gag. Jet fuel did not begin to describe the scent. More like Ogryn ass-sweat. I passed it on without taking a drink.

"How long are we sitting?"

"Lord Verne's waiting on you," Opryszko grunted. "Wanted to see if his shiny took too much of a blow."

"Shiny, huh." I gave my armor a look-over. The Kasrkin paint job still showed under the faint layer of dust. "Doesn't look so shiny to me. Sure he wasn't talking about you?"

"I don't know, Kasrkin. You're the one who's got his pup all randy."

My eyes narrowed sharply. The sergeant offered a smug grin and gathered his gear.

"Come on, shiny. Let's go see your Inquisitor."

He handed me my helmet. Checking it for tampering, I slid it on and followed out into the hallway. Lord Verne stood in the ruined doorway of the Judge's office, Interrogator Kairi and Adin by his side. I nodded subtly to Adin.

"You are well enough to travel," Lord Verne said. I was not sure whether to take that as a question or a command.

"Rearing to go, my Lord."

"Good. The Judge is missing, I assume dead. Our next stop, therefore, is the Library Administratum. I have called in the Phantine Valkyrie. They will meet us on the roof in ten minutes."

We fell in behind as he marched the way we came from. The hallways were filled with a different kind of silence on the way back. The suspense was gone. We all knew for certain what we were facing. We were on hell.


	2. The Library

_Coming up on the Library Administratum now. Movement in the windows._ _Advise a fast drop._

Lord Verne's reply was lost in the hum of the Valkyrie's engines. Sitting closest to the side hatch, I leaned out and took a look. The Library Administratum did not have the decoration or polish of the Arbites compound. A smooth square building, the Administratum had been built for ease of access. The sides did not reach more than a hundred feet across.

Compared to the Arbites compound, the Administratum was tiny. Each floor contained a single room. Most rooms were dedicated to the history of the world, or in this case penal records. We just had to reach the Librarian's office and find the right floor. Not necessarily an easy task.

"How's it look?"

"Pilot's right," I said, pulling myself back into my seat. "Someone's scurrying around, three floors down from the roof. Can't tell what they are."

Adin nodded and starting playing with the settings on his long las. "Good. I need to kill something."

The Valkyrie settled over the landing pad. Under my and Adin's watchful guns the Phantine soldiers roped down and set up around the door leading to the internal stairwell. Sergeant Opryszko checked his auspex and motioned for incoming hostiles. I slung my combi-hot shot and manned the side-mounted bolter.

"Looks like we might have trouble," I told Lord Verne. The Inquisitor peered down at the solid steel door.

"Extreme prejudice," was all he said. I nodded.

"There's no other way."

The Phantine soldiers opened the door, carefully avoiding the line of fire. A crowd of howling misfits poured onto the landing pad. They wore a troubling mix of Arbites armor and weapons, and on seeing the Valkyrie still in the air they began firing. A bolt shell exploded under the deck.

I opened fire with the bolter, spraying the pad with death. Bodies tumbled and scattered as a hail of shells tore into them, punching through their mismatched armor. Bright red puffs marred the white paint as men exploded. Some turned to run back inside, but the Phantine soldiers shut the door and mowed down the survivors. It all happened in fifteen seconds.

My hands tingled as I let go of the bolter. Glancing across the carnage, I could not find a single reason to care. There was a murder tattoo there. Rape and arson there. The scum of the Imperium.

_Permission to land?_

"Set us down, pilot."

_Roger that. Setting down._

The landing pad stunk of sweat, gunpowder and blood. I moved through the dead, checking for any identifying marks on them. They were all former inmates.

Adin came up beside me, his visor cycled back into his helmet. Kicking one body over, he examined the face.

"That's an ugly mug. I think it's safe to assume that this place is taken over as well."

"Keeps getting better, this does." I looked towards the door. The Phantine soldiers had already gone inside. Several booming reports echoed up the stairwell as they cleared the top floor.

Lord Verne motioned for us to lead on. Adin went first, leaning over the railing to scope out the lower stairs as we worked out way down to the first landing. Sergeant Opryszko met us at the door. He grinned wickedly as Adin bypassed him and set up to cover the next floor.

"Floor is clear. Had a couple of the buggers in the utility room. Looks like they were jerry-rigging a bomb."

"We need to go one floor down." Lord Verne dismissed the sergeant off-hand. "Kasrkin, sweep the stairwell. Sergeant, clear the next floor."

The Phantine sergeant nodded and bellowed into the door. He did not look happy to be following. When Interrogator Kairi joined us, pistol in hand, his scowl deepened and he shot me a dirty look.

"After you," she said.

I made a show of sighing. "The only time you don't lead."

The door burst open as we reached the landing. Two men in prison clothes staggered out, carrying a cushioned chair between them. They barely had time to turn and look before we drilled them through the chest. Soft cushions muffled their falls as they tumbled over the chair.

"Sit down," Adin growled. The Phantine squad barreled through the door, but no shotgun blasts came. After a minute Sergeant Opryszko slipped back out.

"Clear."

Lord Verne and his retinue filed in after them.

"Find the records," Lord Verne ordered. He turned to his Explicators. "You know who we are looking for."

The men saluted and wandered off in the direction of the databanks. I stood to the side, watching curiously as the psyker twins began to scan the floors below us. That left the final member of Lord Verne's retinue, the priest Josephus. He and Interrogator Kairi pored over a tome on one of the desks. It appeared out of place, belonging to one of the many floors below us. That it was up here probably meant it was important.

"Stand down," I told Adin. Adin nodded and entered the stairwell. He tossed the dead men off of the chair before plopping down. The chair creaked under his armored weight. With nothing better to do, I began searching the dead jailbirds for anything remotely interesting. One had an odd talisman tucked around his wrist. I made out the scrapped remains of a Mechanized tattoo on his arm, just behind the talisman. A former Guardsman. I wondered what he could have possibly done that excused him from the Penal Legions. Kairn shipped out several a year.

"We've got company, Leon. Look sharp on the stairwell."

The ring of many boots clambering up the stairwell interrupted my inspection. Adin casually dragged his appropriated chair over to the railing and sat down. Peering over the edge, he propped up his hot shot and nodded.

"There's a lot of them."

No fear in his voice. No trepidation. I joined him and checked the stairwell. Five men had reached the landing, clad in little more than rags. More followed them. It looked like the beginnings of a mob.

One looked up, spotted us, and shouted. Surprise rippled through the group, and weapons rose to greet us. A shotgun fired from somewhere in the back, but the scatter missed. We didn't. Our hot shots tore into the crowd with merciless precision. Men tumbled and fell as the scarlet beams ripped through their unprotected bodies. One man appeared out of the mess with a grenade. His arm disappeared in a spurt of blood as Adin and I took it off at the elbow. Three seconds later the frag explosion flattened those still standing. Bodies rolled down the stairs, forming a disgusting heap at the edge of the landing. A few still moved. Five shots later the stairs were silent.

Sergeant Opryszko strode out of the door behind us, one eye cocked curiously.

"What in the hell are you doing out here?"

"Had a party," I said. He looked down at the dead convicts and shrugged.

"Shame I wasn't invited."

"You would have found it boring. They weren't carrying medals."

"Speak for yourself, shiny."

I grinned as he bared his teeth in a feral scowl. Adin stole my attention before I could respond. Pinging my vox, he said,

"More coming up. They're not moving so quick."

Sergeant Opryszko joined us at the railing. We could hear their heavy breathing as they inched forward. The sight of their fallen comrades must have stopped them cold. Several voices cursed and a chorus of clacks announced the loading of shotguns. I bounced a frag down the stairs. The explosion rattled the floor.

"Kasrkin!"

Lord Verne's commanding voice boomed out of the office. I patted Adin on the shoulder to signal my retreat and jogged in the direction of the Inquisitor's voice. Interrogator Kairi and Lord Verne were watching me expectantly.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"We need to go five floors down. Level Three-Five-Two. I want the Phantines to control the passage. Ecclesiarch Josephus will secure the floor with you. Understood?"

I nodded. Looking to Josephus, who studied me with his crazy-eyed glare, I tapped my visor.

"Well then, Joe. Let's go smite some heretics."

The Ecclesiarch offered a feral smile. Lifting his giant Eviscerator from one shoulder, he began one of the thousand droning chants that was always in his mind. I barely had time to dodge aside when he charged out into the stairwell. Hurrying after the priest, I shouted for the others to clear the way. Seconds later the terrified screams of dying men and the shrieking litany of the Emperor's fury filled my ears. By the time I reached the stairs the priest was at the landing, whirling through a crowd of screaming convicts. I did not bother trying to find a target.

We picked our way down the stairs, careful to not slip on the rivers of blood and tangled body parts. The Ecclesiarch left no survivors. By the time we reached Level Three-Five-Two the convicts had retreated far beyond with no intention of coming back. Adin and I stood by the door to the library, half-watching the three Phantine soldiers that guarded our backs. The rest had spread out on the other floors to make sure no nasty surprises cut us off from the roof.

Corporal Anton gestured towards the door with his meltagun.

"Want me to knock it loose for you?"

"We've got it," I told him. "Just watch the stairs."

Turning to Ecclesiarch Josephus, I motioned for him to wait.

"We'll clear the side rooms. You've got the main lobby. Charged?"

The priest nodded slowly, but his eyes burned with wildfire.

"Clear it!"

Adin kicked the door and I rushed in. A single crack of thunder greeted me and a projectile slammed into my shoulder. Staggering slightly, I slid behind the lobby desk and caught my bearings. Red lasers zipped overhead as Adin provided covering fire. He pointed with his left hand and held up two fingers.

"Keep me covered, Adin."

I leapt over the desk and started running. One of the convicts stepped out from cover brandishing a snub pistol. Lowering my shoulder, I knocked him aside and brought my hot shot las to bear on his companion. The man died with his mouth distended in a surprised shriek.

The other man did not have time to scream as I shoved the barrel of my still-smoking rifle in his face. I shouted at him to not move, took a step back, and checked my surroundings. No one else showed. Adin bounded past me, his head on a swivel as he kept tabs on all the shelf-aisles and side room doors. Then the priest charged past us both, his Eviscerator belching smoke as he sought some heretic to slaughter. He was disappointed. There were no others in the library.

"Lord Verne, this is Sergeant Kane. Level Three-Five-Two is cleared. Advise you come down now and get this over with before the rest of the scum regroup."

The Inquisitor and his retinue appeared a minute later. Brushing right past us, they began searching the aisles for the information disks they needed. We waited patiently, our prisoner flex-cuffed and sitting cross-legged in the middle of the lobby. He trembled violently as he watched us work. Looking at his eyes, I saw the telltale signs of withdrawal. Blood-shot eyes, cold sweats, and unnatural flaring of the lips and nostrils. This man had been shooting Nika's. I did not feel sorry for him. Anyone who took that prison-scavenged opiate was too stupid or too desperate to bother with. Shooting at me did not help his case either.

"What's your tag?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything.

He did not answer, but stared past me at the Ecclesiarch in utter terror. Wheels churned behind the man's bleary eyes as one solid bit of information broke through his drug-addled mind. _Ecclesiarch_. _Inquisition. No Mercy._

After waiting for an answer, and seeing that none were forthcoming, I took a step back and looked away. Interrogator Kairi regarded the prisoner hungrily. Her fingers twitched on the cross-body strap of her pack. Soon the convict would be wishing I hadn't spared him.

Typical of her strident and impatient nature, she stood for less than a minute before exhaling sharply and advancing on the man. He watched her cautiously, not understanding her intentions. Only when she pulled a serum-shot from her pack did he realize just what lay in store for him. A horrified moan started in his throat, but before he could form it she kicked him onto his back and leapt on top of him. Not bothering to waste a needle on the man, she jabbed the shot into his neck and squeezed. Veritasium flooded into his body, lighting his nerves on fire with exquisite agony. His scream faded as his mind's neural pathways numbed.

Interrogator Kairi watched his body twitch this way and that as his mind shut down. Her eyes glittered with malign intelligence, enjoying the show too much for comfort. I had fought demons, tanks, Titans, and hordes of mutated cultists. She unnerved me.

"Do you want help with this one?"

I only asked because the answer always came back 'No.' If I thought there was the slightest chance she would accept my aid, I would not have asked. But with that 'no' came a dismissal, and an excuse to not watch her interrogation sessions. Nothing made my day more than getting to not watch her interrogate someone.


	3. If Only It Were That Easy

Returning to the Valkyrie proved much harder than the trip down. By the time the Explicators finished scouring the library for the information they needed, Emperor knows what it was, the convicts had regained their courage and begun making pushes up the stairwell. The sustained gunfire had drawn the attention of everyone in the tower, as well as those in the surrounding buildings. Sporadic gunfire erupted from across the way, piercing the plas-glass windows and making us duck for cover.

On top of that, we watched an ever increasing horde pour into the Library Administratum from the multiple bridges connecting it to the rest of the hive. The horde kept increasing.

"We're going to run out of ammo before we run out of targets," I cursed, slapping a fresh magazine in my hotshot las. Sergeant Opryszko shrugged in between orders to his men.

"We're on a prison hive, shiny. What'd you expect?"

A cluster forced their way up to the landing below us, using a pair of broken doors as shields. Corporal Anton steadied his meltagun and put a long stream of magma into the makeshift defense. Men screamed underneath the shield as fire consumed them. Before the others could recover the doors Sergeant Opryszko tossed a frag grenade into their midst. The explosion tossed bodies left and right.

"Sweep the landing!"

Corporal Vlad led his fireteam in a rush down to the landing, finishing off anyone left standing with shotgun blasts. Propping the doors up as a barricade, they dropped the front rank of convicts and dropped another grenade to give us more space.

"Landing clear! Falling back, give us cover fire."

Leaning over the railing, I began taking shots at the unprotected heads of any convicts that dared show their faces. A raucous crunch ripped through the hallway as a projectile tore through the windows and clattered against the stairs. Vlad shouted a warning and threw himself on it. There was a pop and smoke started pouring out from underneath the man. His body convulsed and he rolled away, choking and swearing like a Catachan.

"Vlad!"

"Gas," he shrieked. "Tear gas!"

Shoving the others back, I sprinted into the growing cloud and scooped up the canister. Harsh breathing rasped in my ear as the gas hissed against my helmet's filters. Tossing it over the railing, I slung my rifle and picked up the writhing Phantine soldier.

"Get him out of the cloud," someone roared. I shouldered past a few bodies and started lugging the half-conscious corporal to safer air. Protected by the cloud, we rushed back to the rooftop without fear of chase. Occasional rounds pinged off the steps and walls as snipers took shots at us, but nothing came close enough to cause real worry.

It wasn't until we reached the rooftop that we began to worry. So much lead filled the air that we doubted the Valkyrie would be able to land safely. It swooped low over the Library Administratum, bolters blazing as it raked the roof of a nearby structure. Running to the edge, I caught the tail end of its devastating barrage. A dozen shattered bodies lay strewn along the roof, tossed here and there by the rain of explosive shells.

"No time to gawk," Adin called out. The Phantine soldiers were shooting into the stairwell, buying us precious time as we waited for the Valkyrie to circle back around.

Not that there was much I could do while we waited. Scanning one building over, I checked the windows with my visor. Heat signatures crowded around a particular window. They weren't shooting, but there was a lot of movement.

"Scope that," I ordered. Adin cursed and settled in beside me. He scanned the window, swore loudly, and held up three fingers.

"Three targets. They've got a grenade launcher."

"How in the blazes did they get that?" I studied the range. There was no way I could land a solid shot in there. Adin could. "If the Valkyrie hovers for more than five seconds…"

"On it, Leon. Targeting gunner."

Unable to do more than watch, I aimed through the Preysense scope of my hotshot las and held my breath. "Range 300. Adjust one degree east."

Adin's long las burped a single shot and the man behind the launcher tumbled backwards.

"Kill confirmed," I said. Adin grunted.

"Targeting loader."

"Range same. Adjust same. He's moving east for the launcher."

Adin fired again and the loader slumped over the body of his fallen partner.

"Kill confirmed." The remaining man disappeared somewhere further into the building. "Hostiles cleared. Can you disable the launcher from here?"

"Give me two shots."

"Roger. Range same. Adjust same."

"Firing." A brilliant scarlet beam cut into the body of one of the fallen convicts.

"Target miss. Adjust one degree short."

"Adjusted. Firing."

This time Adin's shot blasted the body of the launcher. That was the best we would be able to do short of dropping a rocket into the window. I patted him on the shoulder and motioned back towards the center of the roof. The Valkyrie had come around and begun descending to the rooftop. Letting the Phantine troopers guard our backs, we rushed into the troop compartment and took positions around one of the side-mounted bolters. Interrogator Kairi manned it, her eyes peeled for any enemy that managed to enter the weapon's firing arc.

"Fine day for a lift," I muttered. She regarded us with a half-conscious nod.

"The day is not over, Kasrkin. Inteligence recovered from the library places the central rioting around the 4th District Armory. Loyalist forces still remain, but they will not last long."

"Are we bringing cavalry?"

She tsked disappointedly. "We are the Inquisition, Kasrkin. We don't bring the cavalry. We bring the Emperor's justice."

"Oh, that's right." Now that everyone else was onboard the Phantines retreated from the door and piled in. The door burst open, propelled by a mass of bodies, and Interrogator Kairi opened fire with the bolter. I held my fire, knowing that my hot shot las couldn't hold a candle against the pain she could dish out. Bodies exploded in bloody puffs under her withering fire. The charge faltered and soon the doorway held no more enemies. "No man left alive, that's our motto."

"Hilarious," she snapped. "Stand sharp, Kasrkin. We aren't out of this yet."

_We never are,_ I thought grimly. My stomach lurched as the Valkyrie rose into the sky. I belatedly noticed that the grenade launcher had been remanned. The attack transport was turning too quickly to line up a shot. I shouted a warning… which melted into a cynical laugh when an explosion ripped the weapon apart. The explosion carried on into the ammunition belt, setting off dozens of grenades in a dazzling show of pyrotechnics. Adin's shot must have damaged the barrel, among other things. The idiots must have had primitive grenades. Exploding on contact inside the launcher. Couldn't have been better if Adin had planned it.

Adin stared at me as if reading my thoughts. I flashed a thumbs up and slapped Interrogator Kairi on the arm. She stared at the billowing smoke in wonder, her eyebrows scrunched furiously as she tried to make heads of the mysterious conflagration.

"Don't worry your pretty little head," I scolded. "We aren't out of this yet."

Her glare told me that she did not appreciate that comment. I shrugged carelessly and grabbed the barrel of the bolter. "Enemy's that way, Ma'am."

The Valkyrie dipped low between the skyscrapers, dodging this way and that to avoid any tracking weapons. Sporadic fire chased after the attack transport, but it moved too quickly for any convicts to draw any concentrated fire. The 4th District Armory was a good hour's ride from the Library Administratum. I was just glad it wasn't on the other side of the planet.

"We're going to land a small team outside the structure first," Inquisitor Lord Verne said. His voice could be heard clearly over the vox. "Sergeant Opryszko, select three men to accompany you. Kasrkin, you are to join him. You as well, Explicator Munzi."

Adin and I nodded. Sergeant Opryszko shot us a wary stare, clearly bothered that the Inquisitor Lord's "shiny's" were to accompany him. I thought he was warming up just a little. Combat tended to do that to petty grievances.

"That all, my Lord?"

His cold eyes answered for him. "You are to perform a reconnaissance of the Armory before we enter the area. If the Armory has been overrun, report and we will continue on. If not, inform me of the situation."

"Recon and sitrep. Roger that, my Lord."

The plan sounded solid. Explicator Munzi was the tech specialist in the group. His communications equipment was second to none. We wouldn't have a problem contacting the Inquisitor Lord.

"Prepare to be dropped off in ten minutes. The Valkyrie is not going to land; you will be dropping from a distance."

"Fast-roping distance?"

The Inquisitor Lord shook his head. "I will instruct the pilot to hover just off the ground. Fast-roping will take too long."

"A hot jump then." I sat back against the hard chair and sighed. "Great."

"You'll live," Adin said. "At least we'll be dropping into a quiet zone."

Time passed in a flash, and before I knew it we were lining up in the hold. The pilot radioed in something about a freeway and an open patch. I thought I heard the whump of a bolter shell striking the Valkyrie. _That figures_.

The ramp dropped and we threw ourselves out. The pilot had dropped in so low that I hardly needed to step down. Not having known that, I hit the ground unprepared and fell sprawling on the rockcrete road. Recovering in a flash, I scrambled to the wall of the freeway and slid behind cover. No fire greeted us.

Once we were certain that the area was clear Sergeant Opryszko waved me over to his position behind a burned out and rusted street car. Explicator Munzi joined us, his backpack vox antennas sticking out like a little radio tower.

"The 4th District Armory is three klicks west," the Sergeant announced, studying his mobile satellite locator. "We'll advance in files. Kasrkin and the Explicator will stay on the left. My men will stay on the right. Watch your fields of fire and keep a low profile."

"Does this freeway go straight to the 4th?"

Sergeant Opryszko checked his locator again. "Not exactly. There is a plaza offshoot that enters the 4th District Armory at the fifteenth level."

"Anything special about the fifteenth?"

"It's one of three ground levels for the Armory. It's also the hardest to reach."

"Only accessible by freeway?"

"Yes."

I slipped the visor up and eyed them knowingly. "Right then, let's go do some recon. Adin, keep that long las at the ready."

We started off at a decent pace, keeping close to the walls. Between Adin's long las, my Preysense scope, and Explicator Munzi's biocular eye we found little fear of ambush. Echoes of gunfire rose and fell around us. Nothing close enough to indicate we had been seen. By the time the freeway plaza appeared the gunfire had grown consistent and came firmly from around the 4th District Armory.

Taking cover behind a makeshift barricade of cars, we surveyed the battle raging outside the Armory building. A horde of convicts besieged the structure, firing from any cover they could get as they advanced. The mounds of dead littering the steps told us that this was not a new battle.

Return fire from inside the structure kept all but the most adventurous men from making the dash to the first line of defenses. Little more than a pile of sandbags and metal crates, it was nevertheless manned by a squad of Justicar troops armed with shotguns and autoguns. They were holding off the mob, barely. Plenty of blue-dressed casualties hung from windows and railings.

"I guess than means they're still alive," Adin muttered. He began searching the convict side for targets. "Check it, Leon. They've got some kind of ex-Guardsmen over there."

I spotted the men without having to look through my scope. A cluster of men stood a safe distance away, directing the convicts' advance with relative competence. My finger twitched on the trigger. I hated traitors.

"Call it in, Explicator." Sergeant Opryszko motioned for his men to fan out. They did not have the range for a fight like this. Phantine's specialized in short range, close urban combat. The plaza was over a klick wide. That put most of their weapons out of range. Even if I wanted to, we could not engage.

While the Explicator put in the call that the 4th District Armory was still holding, Adin and I continued identifying targets of opportunity. We marked them in order of importance, just in case we had the opportunity to engage. One stood out in particular, a man armed with an old-fashioned RPG like the kind favored by Arbites enforcers. Knowing Inquisitor Lord Verne, he would swoop in right on the steps. That meant we would have to rush the plaza. Half a klick to the doors, maybe a touch more. Straight through that crowd of convicts. Thankfully, it looked like only a few had ranged weapons. And most of those were aimed at the Armory.

Just so we wouldn't have an unpleasant surprise, I hopped on the vox channel.

"-will deliver one strafing run before the pilot drops us off at the entrance. After the strafing run you will join us."

"Lord Verne," I cut in without bothering to introduce myself onto the channel. "We have spotted multiple heavy weapons and leadership among this group. Permission to engage in tandem with your arrival?"

He was silent for a moment as he contemplated the question. I could feel his frown.

"What is the extent of the convicts' firepower and leadership?"

I breathed a little easier. He was going to say yes. "Ex-Guardsmen appear to be directing the assault. There is at least one RPG and numerous small arms."

"Eliminate the leadership and any weapon systems that would pose a threat to the Valkyrie. It is our only transport."

"Understood sir." I shot Sergeant Opryszko an apologetic glance. The face went unnoticed behind my visor. "Sergeant, you ready to rush the entrance?"

"My team knows urban combat, Kasrkin," the Phantine spat. "You don't have to worry about us."

"Sorry I asked."

The first whining tones of the Valkyrie began to seep through the air. Dropping the conversation, I climbed one of the cars and laid down. Adin chose to remain behind the barricade, snug in a spot between two cars. He waved his hand to get my attention and held up a clenched fist.

"Targeting RPG. Fire on my mark," he said.

"Targeting leaders. On your mark."

Adin fired and the RPG-man fell missing a good portion of his chest. I fired a quick burst at the leaders, taking down one, and readjusted my aim. The leaders stood shocked for a moment, giving me time to line up a second shot. Then they started running for cover. Adin caught the third of them as he tried to hide behind a tree.

It looked like the last man was calling for his men, but then the Valkyrie came screeching out from the forest of skyscrapers. Four rockets streaked out, blowing a line of death through their ranks. The Phantines did not wait for the dust to settle. Swarming out from the barricade, they charged for the building, howling like devils as they did. Adin and I stayed put just long enough to drop a couple men armed with the more dangerous weapons before joining.

Caught between the Justicars, the strafing Valkyrie, and our fire, the convicts scattered. A large group on the far side of the plaza moved to intercept us, brandishing a host of homemade weaponry, but as they came in range the Phantines' firepower sent them reeling. A handful stood their ground, firing snub weapons or archaic flintlocks. I did not bother wasting my ammo. Closing in on them, I shrugged off the weak projectile rounds and laid into them with my rifle. One burly convict swung a heavy iron rod at my face, but I dodged under it, spun behind him, and slammed the butt of my rifle into the back of his skull. He collapsed senseless.

The Valkyrie landed at the same time that we reached the wall. Justicars came out from behind cover, whooping and hollering at our entrance. They were ecstatic to see reinforcements. I pitied them.

"Let us through," Sergeant Opryszko shouted. His Phantine troops maneuvered through the Justicars at a determined pace, slapping backs and offering confident smiles as they went. As popular as they were, Adin, Explicator Munzi and I drew the most attention.

"The hell?" A Justicar with officer markings on his shoulder plate pushed his way forward. "Where'd you come from?"

There was no point in lying. Still, I lowered my voice. "Ordo Malleus, Lieutenant. Senior Sergeant Leon Kane."

To his credit, the Justicar did not flinch. "Understood, Sergeant. Malleus means demons, right?"

"Hopefully, not this time." The convicts were gathering at the edge of the plaza. The lieutenant motioned for us to join the others inside. I accepted graciously. Better to get out of the firefight for a change. "We haven't seen any evidence of it yet."

"Neither have we."

The doors opened welcomingly, though the Justicars inside regarded us with nervous glances. Inquisitor Lord Verne had already swept through. They knew what that meant.

"What's your situation here, Lieutenant?"

"We were one of the last Armory's hit. The 4th District held the lesser crimes," he explained. "Most of our lot didn't have the brass to attempt an assault until the other Districts' scum showed up. We've been under siege for a couple days now. The Armory's large enough that we've been fighting in shifts. Eight hours on, twelve off."

We passed a series of medical bays, packed and overflowing with wounded. Despite that, there were huge amounts of men in the halls.

"How many men do you have, Lieutenant?"

"Our District held a full Legion. Six thousand to start," he said. "We're down to about three thousand now. Eight hundred at each ground level, with six hundred in reserve with the heavy equipment."

"Vehicles?"

He gave a weak smile. "Got half our complement of Chimeras and Russ tanks. The rest were ambushed in the District. Their patrols were overrun."

"I take it that's where you lost so many men."

He looked away, unwilling to meet my gaze. "A thousand men, gone in an hour."

"Damn."

We stopped at an elevator. The Lieutenant stepped aside and saluted. "Here's your ride. Your Inquistior would have gone up to the Eightieth floor. That's our operations command center."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." We piled into the elevator. It somehow managed to fit all of us. I gave the man one last nod. "Good luck out there."

The doors shut, and the elevator hurtled upwards.


	4. Judge, Jury, Transpo

The Judge in charge of the 4th District Armory was not carrying on in some delusional fantasy world like so many Imperial politicians did. His operations command center was a busy hustle of officers poring over maps, communicating over the vox banks, and organizing supply distribution. All of the officers were wounded, I noticed. Even the Judge had not escaped unscathed. His left arm disappeared just below the shoulder. They weren't sparing a single healthy body.

Inquisitor Lord Verne had already made his entrance and engaged the Judge. I was prepared to stand to the side, but he turned and waved me over with a simple, imperious gesture. Not the kind I would ever think of refusing.

"Lord Verne," I said, bowing my head respectfully. The Inquisitor Lord sniffed dismissively and addressed the Judge.

"Judge Kimball, this is my Kasrkin retinue, Senior Sergeant Kane."

"Judge."

The Imperial officer extended his hand. He was an older, grizzled man. Still hale and hearty though, not the soft and brain-addled type that I expected. His handshake was firm too.

"Kasrkin," he asked. "Don't see too many of those around here."

"I can imagine," I said, keeping my tone level. The implication that he would ever see a Kasrkin brought in as a criminal riled me. "Your men are fighting hard."

"It's that or be torn to pieces by the mob," Judge Kimball said. "My men are solid fighters, and loyal to the core."

Interrogator Kairi chuckled under her breath. "Pardon, Judge, but we are not here for you or your men. There is no need to defend your troops."

To his credit, the Judge did not even flinch. "I have no need to defend my troops from the Holy Inquisition, my lady."

The Interrogator smiled grimly. Unsure of what was going on, I waited for the Inquisitor Lord Verne to continue. His eyes swept the command center, noting faces and maps with interest. Finally, he opened his mouth.

"We are looking for a particular criminal, Judge Kimball. He is not from your District, but from the 8th District."

"Give his name, my lord, and we will aid you as we can." The Judge snapped his fingers and an orderly hurried forward. He had a large auspex in his hands. "We can track him with this auspex. It is specially modified to track convict Identifiers."

"Prisoner Shechem, Kyle D. Code 25S7W8362UP."

The Judge blinked rapidly, confused. Inquisitor Lord Verne tipped his head.

"Were you expecting someone a little more famous?"

Judge Kimball shook his head. "No, my lord. There are enough big names on this planet to man a regiment. But you said you are looking for an unregistered psyker? That might be hard. Even before the rebellion, the psykers would use their power to form bands. Now that the majority of our Arbites forces have been overthrown their power has grown. Most possess their own personal armies, some of as many as ten thousand wretched souls. If you are seeking a psyker, you might need more men."

"I have brought with me all I need, Judge. You can locate him with this auspex?"

A small beep rang from the auspex as Judge Kimball typed in the prisoner code. "Already done."

I took the auspex from the Judge and studied it. The device had been modified to cover a far larger area than normal. It also extended the signal past the device range. Staring at the screen, I checked the odometer on the bottom. Twenty kilometers. Two Districts over, maybe.

"You said the psykers have amassed armies?"

"Psykers have power. These convicts only understand one thing. Power. Those who have it use it to grow some semblance of order."

"Sounds no different than any hive planet's gang wars," I muttered.

"I doubt the hive planet gangs are equipped as well as these ones are." His face darkened. "There are twenty districts on this planet. There is only one more still in order."

The impact of his words hit me like a sledgehammer. Each Armory housed a regiment's worth of troops. That included armor and heavy weapons. I would have bet a year's pay that there were some former Tank soldiers in the ranks of the convicts. I breathed a silent prayer to the Emperor, hoping we would not run into any.

"Beg pardon, my lord," I said, drawing Lord Verne's attention. "But Judge Kimball brings up a good point. We are to traverse quite a distance through hostile territory, where the locals are armed and more than eager to shoot us down. A little help wouldn't hurt."

Seeing the Inquisitor's hesitation, Judge Kimball offered his assent. "We will spare whatever you need, my lord. Anything you ask for."

The Inquisitor Lord mulled over the decision for a while longer before shooting me an irritated scowl. He was not pleased. No doubt he would verbally thrash me later for my impertinence. I did not care as long. At least I would be alive to hear it.

"Very well, Kasrkin. At your judgment."

Grateful, I faced the Judge and reviewed my knowledge of how the Adeptus Arbites worked. I would not ask for much. They needed as much as they could keep here.

"A Shock Squad and a second Valkyrie armed with bolters and autocannons."

"Good as done."

Inquisitor Lord Verne's sigh made me shiver. "Is there anything else, Kasrkin? Perhaps a squadron of Leman Russ tanks and a strike cruiser?"

Loose chairs shook as the building shuddered. An orderly shouted a report about a breach on the primary ground floor. The steady bustle of officers erupted in a frantic scramble of vox broadcasts and commands. Judge Kimball excused himself and retreated to the holodeck.

Inquisitor Lord Verne dismissed us with a twitch of his head. "Find their hangar, Kasrkin. Pick out your Valkyrie and let us be done with this Armory. The Arbiters can hold it on their own."

Despite being in the midst of a siege, the Valkyries in the hangar were well maintained. Four of the twenty aircraft had been taxied off to the side, where there shell-ridden hulks were in the midst of emergency repairs. I could still see blood splatters on one of the cockpits.

Apart from that, the others had a dedicated team of servitors keeping the Valkyries in ready-to-go order. Not that they would be sending out many sorties right now. They could not afford to lose one to anti-aircraft fire, apparently. Maybe they were holding their breath for a powerful assault.

"Sergeant Kane?" A chrome-domed servitor approached, bearing a carefully bound volume in his… its… hands.

"Yes."

"The Valkyrie is being blessed by Techpriest Gardis as we speak. The Shock squad is standing by, waiting for your orders."

Motioning for him to lead the way, I followed to the Inquisitor's Valkyrie. The co-pilot, a red-head with a non-regulation beard and streaks of blue paint on his face, shuffled to a modified form of attention before throwing a salute.

"She'll be ready for action in fifteen, Sergeant. We took a frag to the starboard engine. Got some bits and nuts in the fan."

"As long as she'll stay airborne," I replied, eyeing the engine in question. There were some impressive scorch marks on the casing. "Have you spoken with the other crew?"

"What, the Arbites fliers? They're a grand bunch. Run routes in this hive that would make a flee-biter puke. Know the ways like the back of their hands, they do. Wish they'd lighten up a bit though. Cold."

"Good." As if on cue, the crew for the other Valkyrie approached, led by the same servitor that I had spoken with. Not the stereotypical pilot jocks. Sturdily built, with scarred faces and grim scowls, the pilots introduced themselves without any of the expected banter. Jansen and Barnum. "What's your combat time?"

They averaged 100 hours in combat flight. Both had been Space Corps before transferring to the Adeptus Arbites. That suited me perfectly. Space pilots had a certain awareness in the cockpit that land pilots just didn't grasp. Made them even more effective in hive cities.

Having accomplished their purpose in introducing themselves, the pilots returned to their pre-flight prep. The copilot snorted.

"So cheerful. Well then, time to finish putting the spit-shine on my beauty. Lift off in half, Sergeant. Oh look, the rest of the party's here."

I turned to see Inquisitor Lord Verne step out of the lift, followed by his retinue and the Phantine troopers. Sergeant Opryszko wore his now-familiar grimace even more pointedly as he saw the Justicar squad standing near the Valkyries. The rivalry between Guardsmen and Justicars stretched back millennium. I would have been surprised if he had not been bothered by their addition to the mission.

"Lord Verne." I nodded respectfully. Lord Verne returned the gesture with a blink.

"Are the ships ready for launch, Kasrkin?"

"No sir. Ours is finishing minor repairs, and will be grounded for the next half. We should be wings up in that time."

The sigh that passed through the Inquisitor's lips was somewhere between exasperation and fury. "Very well then. I assume you have already shuffled our roster to accommodate your new troops. How are you diluting our forces this time?"

Not bothering to make the comment that the Shock squad was more familiar with the enemy and the terrain, I jerked my thumb towards our Valkyrie. "Half Justicar, half Phantine. Split the retinue as you'd prefer, my Lord. That way if one of us gets shot down, we'll have some soldiers that know the area. And, if we lose one bird the other can continue on combat effective."

He made a show of considering the plan. "I suppose that is an acceptable strategy. Are you planning on being shot down, Sergeant?"

"No sir."

"Then you will board the Justicar Valkyrie. Take Sergeant Cisk and Explicator Munzi with you. For that matter, take Sergeant Opryszko and his best men. If we have two transports, we might as well make full use of them. You shall serve as a rapid assault force if the situation warrants." He turned back to Interrogator Kairi. "You will remain onboard our transport and monitor communications."

She did not appear pleased, but Kairi bowed her head and took a step away from the Justicar Valkyrie. Pulling her hood low over her face, she sauntered off to speak with the copilot. When the Inquisitor Lord turned away to speak with Sergeant Opryszko, she flashed me a pout. I shrugged and started off in the direction of the Shock squad.

"Alright troopers, gather 'round! Form a circle."

I hated flying through anti-aircraft fire. Some group of bastards must have gotten a supply of vox's, and were using them to track our progress as we passed through the 3rd District. They did not have many heavy weapons, but the constant rattle of fire on the hull had my nerves tingling. Eventually we were going to run into someone with an autocannon or a missile launcher. Emperor's bones, that'd be our luck.

"Brace for evasive maneuvers. Banking left." The pilot's voice boomed through the closed hold. I made a show of casually looking towards the hatch seals on the sides. It would have been nice to shoot back, but with the volume of fire it was too large a risk.

"Reminds me of a slow day on Cadia," Adin said, his voice light but strained. If the shooting was making even him nervous, we were definitely in for it. "Remember that time we had to hot drop into the middle of that Titan Legion?"

"Not helping," I grunted. "What's the ETA to locus Aries?"

"…half an hour if we fly straight. With all this fire though, we've been crossing back and forth quite a bit. Fuel's going to be close on this one."

Checking my hotshot lasgun again, I went over each inch of the well-used rifle. Most hotshot's had to be replaced after a few years due to the sheet power output of the rounds. Mine was nearing its tenth anniversary. I had spent a lot of time maintaining it and replacing parts. It had a lot of kills to its name. Three dozen traitor Marines, several lesser demons, uncounted hordes of cultists and traitors. I knew it like the back of my hand.

The trigger felt a touch twitchy. Not something I would be able to fix out in the field. Settling with that, I glanced across the hold to Sergeant Opryszko. He did not appear fazed by the fire. Then again, Phantine's made a job out of getting shot at in the sky. This must be small potatoes to him.

The Shock troopers however, they probably weren't so used to being shot at like this. The occasional small arm maybe, but not concentrated, extended fire like this. They did not show their discomfort though. To a man their faces were grim and determined. Their sergeant was the only one armed with an autogun. The rest had a mix of combat shotguns, suppression shields and power mauls. Perfect for a street fight.

"Got any jokes, Justicar?"

The sergeant shook his head. "Nothing that comes to mind. I don't get funny around the job, sir."

"That's a shame. And I'm sitting here all-"

A violent explosion rocked the Valkyrie. I stumbled forward out of my seat, jolted forward as the flier tilted to the left. Before I could recover my balance the spin reversed, throwing everyone to the right. My stomach lurched in my throat as the spin came faster and faster.

_Mayday, Mayday. Eagle One, this is Eagle Two._ The pilot's voice remained calm, somehow. _We took a shot and have lost starboard engines. Losing altitude. Pedals not responding. I say again, losing altitude, pedals not responding. We are going down._

The only mercy was that we blacked out before we crashed.


	5. Detour

The only thing in the galaxy I wanted was for my head to stop throbbing. Something heavy sat on my chest, something with sharp corners and no budge. I tried to move it anyway, shifting as much as I could to give myself some leverage. My left arm had been pinned underneath my body, and I couldn't get it out.

Glancing around, I found my rifle lying in the middle of the room. It was better than having lost it completely.

"Hello?" My throat burned when I spoke. Dust and blood came up as I coughed, but I did not have time to consider it. Small tongues of flame licked at the air here and there around me. I had no idea if they were the leftovers from a fire, or the beginnings of one. Twisting as much as I could, I pushed at the object on my chest. It budged a couple inches, just enough for it to turn so I could see the Imperial ID code decorating the piece. It was from our Valkyrie.

"Leon!" Adin's voice crackled in my ear. "Where are you?"

"No idea. I'm…" I took a moment to look around. A room, what must have been a more expensive suite from a Hive hotel. The wall to the outside was largely gone, leaving a gaping hole through which the sunlight peeked. There were no recognizable landmarks. "In a building. Looks like a hotel of some kind."

"Blue couches?"

"What?"

"Are there blue couches?"

I looked to my left. A ruined blue couch, burnt half-black, had been wedged up against the door. Odd. "Yes, I've got blue couches."

"We're in the same one then." He sounded relieved. "We're on floor 6.23. Let me know when you figure out your floor and we will meet up with you."

"Can't move," I growled. "Got a souvenir from our flight pinning me down. And some croaked sop barricaded the door, so look for a door that won't open."

"Damn it. We'll search floor by floor then. You can't be too far from us."

"Hurry up."

"We'll keep you updated."

His channel shut off and I let out a deep breath. I tried calling out again, just in case someone else had landed nearby. No one responded. There was not much else to do, so I settled in for a bit of a wait. If I was lucky, they would find me in a few minutes. If not… I hated thousand-story Hive buildings.

To my surprise, I heard a fist pound on the door after only a short time. Multiple voices came from outside. They were too quiet and muffled for me to recognize them. I did not mind. Switching on the vox, I contacted Adin.

"Good timing."

"Huh?"

The knock came louder, and I thought I heard someone calling to see if I was inside. I shouted right back.

"Some of the Justicars are outside my room."

"What are you talking about? We're in a stairwell between floors."

My gut froze. I looked at the door and swore. The voices had gone silent after I had shouted. That could be good…

A fist-sized chunk of the door blew inwards. Now I heard the voices loud and clear. Definitely not Justicars. Emperor blast it. I struggled for the clasp of my pistol holster. It came loose easily enough, but I could barely inch the weapon out.

A hand appeared through the hole, groping for the keypad to open the door. Keeping a wary eye on the intruder, I continued shifting this way and that, easing my arm free. The hand gave up, returned, and a second blast ripped aside a chunk just above the first hole. I offered up a silent prayer in gratitude that the door was on the far side of the room. They would not be able to see me until they were inside. That bought me a little more time.

A full arm appeared this time, stretching in up to the shoulder. I managed to draw my pistol out and took aim. My arm ached and shook badly. Emperor, I needed a rest. And we had barely gotten started.

"All right, you bastard." I let out a quite curse as the hand found the keypad. The hand disappeared just in time to miss getting caught in the door as it slid open. No one entered immediately. Judging by the stream of swears, they did not appreciate the couch being in the way.

If it weren't for the fact that I was pinned to the ground and a fat target, I would have had a pretty strong advantage. They could only enter one at a time, and awkwardly at that, and I had a clear shot at the entryway. If only I had my hotshot.

The first one tried climbing in feet first, fumbling over the couch. I waited until he was halfway in before pulling the trigger. The man squealed as I put three determined rounds into his back. His body jerked and flopped on the couch, twitching like a stuck fish. The fourth shot left him limp, splayed against the couch like a doll. His companion fired a few blind rounds into the room. Metal shavings rained down all around me.

"That's right," I shouted, coughing between breaths. "There's more where that came from."

The man shouted something back in a language I did not recognize. Not that I had time to wonder. Feet pattered in the hallway, then a body dove through the doorway. Or at least, he tried to. The door, apparently on a timer, dropped with a hiss just as he started crossing. Caught between the door and the couch, the man was stuck. His face twisted in agony as the door sought to close, putting enormous pressure on his back. Even from where I was, I heard a crack of bone.

I could have let him die slowly. The door would have broken him as surely as if an Adeptus Astartes stomped on him. But in the midst of his pain the man somehow remembered that I was in the room. His roving eyes picked me out, and he lifted his shotgun.

We fired at the same time. My head snapped to the side as his shot sent sparks flying into my visor. The slab pinning me down cracked down the middle, and I rolled to the side. A second blast shattered a mirror a few meters to the side. The man gave one final scream, a call so hideous that I thought it wasn't human. By the time I came to my knees the door closed; his torso slid over the couch to land next to his friend's feet.

It took me a minute for his death to register. My pistol stayed trained on the dead man's chest as my eyes flicked to the door and back. Death by door. That was a new one.

I would have felt a lot better if it wasn't for the fact that I heard more voices coming from further down the hallway. Scrambling forward to my hotshot, I snatched it up and pressed myself against the wall. Staying silent, I tried to count the individual voices muttering. At least three. I could hold them out indefinitely, but I wouldn't be getting out.

My dilemma solved itself. Fate was taking just a little too much interest in my current state, I decided. When the grenade popped through the hole and rolled onto the floor, a dozen damnations flashed through my mind. I dove for the nearest bit of cover, the shattered bit of Valkyrie, and pulled it over as a shield.

The explosion sent me sliding across the floor, clutching the makeshift shield with burning fingers as it broke into pieces. My visor darkened as fire flooded the room. Heat touched me through my armor, and my back slammed into the wall. Then it was over.

"Emperor's shit!"

I fired a haphazard round at the door to keep anyone from coming in. Staggering to my feet, I limped to the nearest counter and leaned against it for support. They were talking outside, of what I had no clue. If they had another grenade I was through. I checked my belt. Grabbing a grenade took more effort than it should have. Armed with that, I eased my way along the counter to get closer. Close enough to throw.

"Okay," I grunted, wheezing for a deep breath. "How about a taste of your own frackin' medicine. Catch!"

Somehow, the grenade made it through the hole and into the hallway. The men outside screamed, then the door exploded inwards. The walls shook so violently I fell to the floor. When the dust settled, I heard nothing but a single, faint moan. I waited a minute, praying that I would hear nothing else. The moan faded into silence.

I decided to not get up for a bit. The floor felt too comfortable, and my body ached too much. Two explosions was two too many for my liking. Eyes closed, I concentrated on my breathing and the silence. Two beautiful sounds.

"Leon?"

And the third beautiful, if tardy, sound. I heard it clearly over the vox, but I also heard it coming from down the hallway. A half-dozen feet pounded closer. They shuffled to a halt around the door. Too tired to stand up, I merely held up a hand and shouted.

"Yo, in here."

"Really?" Adin leapt deftly over the couch. He took in the room for a moment before glancing down at the severed torso-man. "Never would have guessed. Every other room has a blown-in door and a pile of body parts strewn about in here."

"Yeah, but not a handsome and dashing Kasrkin."

My companion chuckled under his breath and stood over me. From where I lay on the ground I got the feeling that he was in about as much pain as I was. Something in the way he was standing… there. His knee. There was something wrong with his knee.

"Keep dreaming, Leon. Everyone knows I'm the one with the looks." He held out his hand and helped me stand. "Well then, looks like you survived in one piece."

"One shaken piece." I demonstrated by promptly falling against the counter. Adin shook his head and called outside. The Justicar sergeant clambered in, minus his autogun. He had a wicked scratch across his face. "How many casualties?"

"Lost the copilot and two Justicars," Adin told me. We had seen too much death for these ones to force any emotion. I gave the sergeant a conciliatory nod.

"We shall mourn them when all is done."

The sergeant shook his head. "They died in the line of duty. No sense mourning that. Come on, let me help you out."

The other men stood outside, weapons aimed down either side of the corridor. Our pilot stood in the middle, his arms crossed tightly over his stomach. Judging by the way he leaned over, he had taken a severe blow. Probably had a rib or two broken in the crash.

"This it?"

Adin nodded.

"Any contact from Lord Verne?"

"Nothing. We don't have any vox equipment strong enough to reach him."

"Great." I motioned for Adin to lead the way. "Do we have a location?"

"Yes. Only five kilometers from an old hospital. We should be able to find some equipment there."

"Hospital?" I frowned behind my visor. That ran a bell for some reason. Hospital… hospital… _Hospitaller_. Sisters Hospitallers. Adeptus Sororitas.

"Exactly what you're thinking," Adin said, not looking at me. "And there's a working railtram that leads straight there."

"How many floors?"

"Not sure." He gave an indifferent shrug. "Lucky for us, the elevator is still working."

"Sure, lucky."

The Justicar sergeant handed me my hotshot. I accepted it gratefully, and headed to the door, using the rifle as a crutch. Explicator Munzi cleared the couch, using his bionic arms to shove the heavy furniture aside. Half of the digits on the left hand were missing, but the rest of the arm worked just fine.

"I'm getting real tired of this," I growled. Munzi did not answer directly. It was sergeant Opryszko that clapped my back and offered his shoulder for me to lean on.

"Aw, is the shiny getting worn out? And we're having such a party."

I started to scowl at him, but stopped when I saw the rueful grin on his face. Blood had soaked through the bandages on his face.

"I never said I was giving up," I told him. "Besides, I can't let you Phantines do my job for me. That'd be just disgraceful."

He laughed and we started down the hall towards the elevator. "Life's all about disappointment, shiny."

"Sure it is."

A door opened on the far side of the hallway. Two convicts entered, weapons drawn but aimed at the ground as if they were not suspecting trouble. When they saw us they yelped brought their weapons up. A hail of gunfire from everyone in the hallway swept them off their feet and tossed them backwards.

"Boomtown," Opryszko called out. "Alright, team. Get to the elevator before more pukes show up."

The service elevators in the building were huge. They could have fit a Leman Russ in one, which meant that the ten of us had room to spare. While the elevator rumbled downwards, I took stock of the remaining men.

There had been thirteen, including the pilots. Adin and I were still walking, if wounded; Opryszko, Anton, and the two-man fireteam were mostly unscathed, although one had lost his shotgun in the crash; Munzi hadn't suffered more than the busted hand; the pilot was barely mobile, and the two surviving Justicars seemed fit and ready. At least we were combat-effective.

"When this door opens, clear the area with your men," I told Opryszko. "We'll keep you covered from here."

"Good as done," he replied.

"Justicars, you have the pilot. Get him to the railtram while we cover you."

The elevator began to slow and a warning bell told them the doors were about to open. We pinned to the sides and took aim. If someone was on the other side waiting for us, they would get one hell of a welcome.

Metal groaned as the huge doors slid open. The elevator opened up to an empty tram station. Not that we took it as a given. The Phantine troopers piled out of the elevator, splitting into twos as they rushed for the nearest pieces of cover, a secretarial desk and a bench. Adin charged straight ahead, rushing past them in an effort to draw fire from any hidden enemies. He didn't stop until he reached the stairs that led down to the actual tram.

When no one engaged, I motioned to the rest of the party. We moved as quickly as we could, with a Justicar supporting the pilot. The scrape of his boots on the tiled floor rang out eerily in the stillness of the station. I didn't like it. The whole thing struck me as too quiet. But I wasn't used to fighting in hives. We had gone down, what, fifty stories? Our gunfight wouldn't have reached this far down.

Once at the stairs the Phantines collapsed back into the group and we debated what to do next. It was entirely possible there were convicts down below, waiting for us. The stairs left us terribly vulnerable. One either side were escalators though. I looked towards the down-escalator, then to Adin. Adin nodded.

"Let's do it live."

Turning to the others, I outlined the plan. They didn't like it, but there were no other good options. Shuffled over to the top of the down-escalator, I dropped to my stomach and crawled forward. Adin held me steady as I moved onto the sliding steps. As soon as I was set he let go, patted my foot, and I let the escalator start dragging me down.

Best thing about Kasrkin helmets… multi-targeting. Keeping my hotshot propped against my shoulder, I let the escalator bring me closer to the ground floor, eyes sweeping every new foot of the station as it appeared. Empty station. Empty station. Empty- shit!

Four men peeked out from various bits of cover across the station. They were fidgeting nervously, unsure of who exactly was up above. I preferred that to the alternative. My hotshot lined up on the easiest target and I squeezed off a single round. It drilled the man just under the shoulder. He fell over backwards, landing hard on his butt against a pillar. It almost looked like he fell asleep.

The remaining three scrambled for cover. I fired a couple rounds in their direction to keep them pinned. "Three hostiles. Center up, twenty meters. Taking cover."

Opryszko's response was to lob a flashbang down the stairs. Thankfully, the side of the escalator shielded me from the light, but the concussive impact rattled my aim. It didn't do anything for the convicts either though, because they were still behind cover. One poked his head out from a food stand to fire and I took a shot. My aim was off and blew a chunk out of the counter instead. It got him to duck behind though. Bought me enough time to adjust my aim.

Then the Phantines charged down the stairs, shooting at anything and everything that might conceal an enemy. A stream of melta slagged a pillar, sending the man behind it scurrying for better cover. I took him down with a blast in the knee. Anton's melta-shot chased him down, cutting him in half with an agonized scream.

I lost sight of the others at that point. Someone must have tried to run, because I saw a flash of a weapon go flying in the air. An unfamiliar shot rang out, but it was drowned out by hollering and more shotgun fire. By the time I reached the end of the escalator the shooting had stopped.

"Clear!" Anton rounded the escalator rail and knelt down. He offered his hand. "Let's go. We should move fast."

I scrambled up and took stock of the situation. All four convicts were down, none of the Phantines were hurt. If those were the only ones here then we would have nothing to worry about. Opryszko had already stormed back up the stairs, barking for the rest to come on down.

"There's a tram on the right. Get an operator on it and let's get out of here."

A Justicar pushed past them and rushed into the tram's engine compartment. He poked his head out a couple seconds later and announced that he recognized the make and could get it working. We piled into the next compartment over, making sure to clear space to put the badly injured men on a flat surface. Anton went two compartments down and severed the connection between them, shortening the tram but leaving a couple extra cars in case. The Justicars seemed intimately familiar with the system, and they had the tram running in no time.

As the tram pulled out we heard the faint warbling of the elevator. Company had arrived. I nodded to the others and tapped Opryszko on the shoulder.

"Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves."


	6. Fracked

Our tram pulled out of the station just as our pursuers boarded the other one. It gave us a head start, something that we intended to utilize as best we could. Still, we did not kid ourselves in thinking we had a clean getaway. I assembled everyone who had a long range weapon and we started fortifying the last compartment.

As a passenger tram, the majority of each compartment consisted of rows of seats. They could, we discovered, be manually removed and the whole compartment could be reconfigured. We used the seats to barricade the rearmost door shut, and placed the remainder against the bulkheads to cushion incoming fire. Apart from that, we didn't have much to work with. Hopefully it would be enough.

Adin didn't join us just yet. He hung back with the pilot, making sure he was settled and had a fresh bandage over the bloody that ran along his leg. It wasn't a pretty sight. Without medical help he would die from blood loss or system shock. I hoped we could find something in the hospital. I'd seen enough mercy killings to last me a lifetime.

The Justicar piloting fidgeted with the engine to get as much boost into the tram as he could. We didn't get much, but with the last half of the tram absent our speed appeared to best that of the other tram. They steadily lost ground as we progressed along the line. I could see the eagerness and hatred burning in their eyes. These weren't the lower rung of the criminal hierarchy. They weren't shooting for one, they saved their ammunition. And they all appeared to have at least some Justicar armor on them. I recognized a couple bionics among them too.

And I saw a familiar tattoo. _Catachan._ A fracking Catachan trooper. I felt my chest tighten at the sight, and I reexamined the others. More of them. We were being chased by damn Catachan convicts.

Opryszko saw it too. He turned away from the rest of the men and shot me a worried look. I shook my head, glad to have my visor hiding my face. I didn't like it. If things kept going the way they had been, we wouldn't have to worry about them. They weren't getting any closer. More likely than not they would fall behind and become someone else's bother.

But if they caught up…

Inquisitor Lord Verne had used Catachan devildogs before. They were batshit crazy mixed with homicidal berserker. We'd need the Emperor himself to protect us if those psychos got on board. I wished we had a rocket launcher. The thought of blasting the tram out of the sky filled me with unholy desire.

"Can't catch a break," I muttered. "Sergeant, can you fetch Adin?"

He hesitated for a moment, then recognition filled his eyes and he retreated to the previous compartment. A minute later he returned with Adin in tow. I motioned to the window and he settled in to scope out the pursuing car.

"Shit."

"That about sums it up." I patted his shoulder to make sure he knew to hold his fire. "What's your opinion?"

"Well, they're holding fire for now and I think we can outpace them. If I start picking them off they'll be bound to try something drastic. Then again, if I can derail the tram…" He slowly took one hand off of his long last and pointed across to the second tram rail. "Dislodging the front compartment might bring the whole tram down."

Opryszko and I studied the rail. It was a small thing, but I had confidence that Adin could hit what he needed.

"Go for it," I told him. "But let's make sure we aren't about to have any sudden turns. Opryszko, go to the front and report when we hit a straight patch."

He nodded and hustled out of the compartment. I let out a long breath and knelt down next to Adin.

"How's the pilot?"

"Not going to make it." Adin's head tilted a hairsbreadth in acknowledgment. "It'd be better for him to flash his brainpan."

I had expected as much, but it still bothered me. The pilot was older, and he had seen his fair share of war in the past. No matter how many times I had done it, I never got used to putting down a veteran Imperial like that. It seemed like such a waste, and an injustice.

But to voice those thoughts, or to let them cloud my judgment, warranted failure. Kasrkin didn't hesitate when it mattered. We acted, and we acted on rational judgments, not emotional tripe. I switched over to our private channel.

"I want to talk to the Justicars first."

"Whatever suits you. The sooner the better though. He's suffering something awful and we might as well not waste meds on him. The living will need them later."

"Understood. Do you have a target?"

"Found the railbox. If the line's straight, I can take it down at any time."

"Opryszko?"

The Phantine sergeant shouted back that we were clear. I got down on my knees next to Adin and sighted in to provide spotter support. The railbox was easy enough to spot. It wasn't large, about the size of a man's head. Adin could nail it.

"Range 100. Adjust zero."

"Perfect." Adin took a short breath and loosed a single shot. The railbox exploded in sparks but didn't break. Watching through my scope, I saw a clean hole through it. The attachment hung on by a thread.

The convicts reacted just as I had expected. The torrential outpouring of fire that had been held back erupted with fury that matched their sudden howls of rage. Everyone in the compartment dove for cover as ballistic rounds ripped through the thin tram bulkheads. The stacked seats slowed down most of the fire, but plenty of shots ricocheted around the compartment with enough force to cause concern.

"Second shot! Second shot!"

"Trying to!"

One of the Phantine troopers stood up to fire back. His face disappeared in a fountain of blood and gore as a heavy slug round struck him in the jaw. Suddenly blood was everywhere. Opryszko appeared in the doorway, shock on his face as a round sparked off his armor. He dropped to a knee and rolled forward, slipping on the bloody floor. Someone was screaming for help.

Adin scrambled up to one of the side windows and leaned out. He fired off a shot before letting himself drop back for safety. "Frack! Shit!"

"You okay?" I slid past him and pinned against the rear door. Spinning out for a shot, I took in the situation, saw the wall of muzzle flashes, and returned fire. I got off a good five rounds before they shifted fire and I had to swing back behind cover again. The tram bulkhead shuddered against my back as the slugs chewed through it. "Hell, we can't take much more of- get him out of here!"

Opryszko grabbed the blood soaked Phantine trooper and started dragging him farther in. He was still alive, somehow. I watched them for a moment, making sure they could get away. Then I went back to the other tram.

The compartment shifted suddenly, tilting to the left. I braced myself and blindfired, abandoning any pretense of aiming. "What the hell was that?"

"They're trying the same thing," Adin guessed. He was flat on his stomach, shooting out through a plate-sized hole in the low part of the bulkhead. "Some genius is shooting at our railbox."

"Is it good or bad that they aren't aiming to take us prisoner?" I managed a weak laugh. Then an idea dawned on me. "How far out are they?"

"Still about a hundred. I think they might have caught our pace."

I checked my belt. Two grenades left. Perfect.

"If you can get me a good second to prep, I think I can frag them."

"Them or the railbox?"

"Right. I can't-" I popped up and fired a shot. The numbers were thinning, but not nearly fast enough. I watched a larger one drop against the window sill as a las shot took out his throat. I shot the man that replaced him. "Whatever works."

"Roger. Count to five."

Adin started firing so fast that I knew he wasn't aiming. Priming a frag grenade, I counted in my head and waited. On four I pivoted out and hurled the grenade as hard as I could. It sailed straight and true, arcing just over the tram's path. The slug fire forced me to take cover again before it exploded. The explosion shook the compartment though. And the incoming fire dropped off.

"Taking the shot," Adin called out. He held his fire for a moment, then sent off a final round. I peeked out in time to watch the railbox shatter and the compartment lurched downwards. Bodies tumbled out of the windows as it swung down, taking the rest of the tram with it. Within seconds the whole vehicle had disappeared into the clouds below.

"Frack me," I growled. Looking around the compartment, I felt my stomach drop. Blood was everywhere. Another Phantine was down, collapsed in one of the seats against the window. He looked like he was sleeping against the window sill. When I nudged his side his body tumbled to the floor. Wisps of smoke curled up from matching holes in his breastplate. Killed instantly by the first, I thought.

I grabbed the body and dragged it back into the other compartment. Opryszko and Munzi were hard at work on the mangled Phantine trooper, fighting desperately to save his life. They were soaked to the elbows in his blood and it wasn't stopping. His throat gurgled sickeningly as he tried to cry. It was futile. I unholstered my sidearm and put a round in his eye, sparing them all the trouble.

"I'm sorry," I told them. Adin stepped between me and the remaining two Phantines, his long las pointed at the ground. "But he was already dead."

Opryszko looked up at me and I saw more rage in his eyes than a single man should have possessed. It wasn't directed at me. He sighed heavily and leaned back staring at his hands. The blood made them shiny.

"…blast. Thank you, Kasrkin." He stood up and gestured for Adin to step aside. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not blind. He couldn't be saved."

Adin's posture relaxed a hair. Opryszko shuffled past him and knelt down next to the other one. Unhooking the man's helmet, he collected his dog tags and stood back up.

"Sorry for your loss. They were good men."

"They were Phantine," Opryszko hissed. "They died with honor." Looking to Anton, he shook his head. "Corporal, let's bury them."

We stood aside as they set about field stripping the men. They gathered weapons, supplies, and any armor pieces that they could swap out for. When they finished they dragged the bodies into the rear compartment and returned to us. Opryszko grabbed the lever to detach the compartment. No one moved to stop him as he announced their names and their unit. Then he pulled the lever and the compartment rolled free. Anton took aim with his melta and severed the damaged railbox holding it to the line. It plunged into the clouds like an assault pod. The Phantine way.

Turning back to us, he blinked a few times and slung his shotgun. I could have sworn his eyes were moist.

"Eight of us?"

"Seven," Munzi corrected. He indicated the pilot, lying still on the bench. "Seven."

"Think it's enough?"

For the first time since I had met him, he didn't look confident. I felt something quake inside me. Something not good. Fear.

"We'll be fine," I told him. My helmet masked my voice enough that they didn't hear the quaver in it. Seven men against a hive city. What could we do? We had no positioning, no inkling of where to head or how to get there. All we could do was survive.

"Sir?"

The Justicar's voice rang out from the front of the tram. I didn't like the apprehension in his tone.

"What is it?"

"We've got company incoming."

I closed my eyes. When it rains…

"I'll be right there."

"Hurry up. It looks like they have missile launchers."

The tram swayed as a projectile flashed by. Earsplitting shrieking gave way to a thick white trail, and the second line erupted behind us. I watched the shrapnel fly in all directions, propelled by a small mushroom-like explosion.

"Correction, they do have missile launchers."


	7. All Aboard

Of fracking course. Missile launchers. I moved to the window and looked out. The tram station up ahead was full of moving bodies. There didn't look to be a purpose or rhythm to their movements. But a couple clusters promised danger. At least one of those clusters focused around a tripod-mounted missile launcher.

I cursed the Justicars' extensive armories as a second missile fired. The smoke plumed like a deadly wave, spiraling towards us. I could tell exactly where it would land. It would hit us square in the nose. This time, they weren't going to overshoot.

"Frack! Clear out!"

We had no options. The tram couldn't stop in time and there was only one other compartment. With the engine gone, we'd be sitting ducks for a second shot. The Justicar piloting the tram shot me an 'oh shit' look and started running for the other compartment. I brought my hot shot up and started firing.

The one thing we had in our favor was that Adin and I were two of the luckiest bastards I had ever known. We just didn't die. In our time we'd had shells land in our foxhole, taken punches from demons, gotten shot by autocannons, been run over by tanks… but never fracking died. I was pretty sure we were cursed or something, though others would call it a blessing.

For some reason, I had a gut feeling that our luck wouldn't fail now. I fired quickly and accurately, sending a hail of scarlet light tracing in front of the incoming missile. Was it even possible to shoot one down? Probably. The chance though was one in a million. If I had a heavy bolter…

The missile was closing the final hundred meters when a body shoved me aside and hurled a melta bomb out the window. Adin dropped on top of me, covering me from the explosion. The deafening blast threw us to the far end of the compartment. The tram shook like a leaf in a hurricane, swinging left and right so hard I was certain we would derail. For ten long heartbeats we bounced from wall to wall, hitting harder and harder each time.

When the shaking stopped and we regained our senses the lights had gone out in the tram. We weren't moving anymore. I sat up, feeling a wave of nausea pound my stomach, and looked around. As far as I could tell the compartment was still intact. Opryszko stuck his head in through the hatch, mouth quirked in a grimace. His lips moved… I didn't hear a word. Hell, I couldn't hear anything. Not even that damned ring in my ears that came with most concussion-based deafness.

I shook my head and shrugged. His shoulders dropped and he… yeah that word I recognized. Anton rushed in and they carried me into the second compartment. Rough hands felt around my helmet and tugged it off.

"Emperor's breath," Opryszko growled. I blinked a few times, wincing as my eyes adjusted to the unfiltered light. My hearing was back, and fine. Confused, I felt my head for a wound. The Phantines chuckled and showed me my helmet.

"Shit…" I felt my lungs deflate in shock. The helmet had taken one hell of a beating. A razor shard of piping had gone straight through the right side, skimming the armor just enough to not have taken off the entire side of my face. The visor was cracked like glass and the electronics sparked. If I hadn't been wearing it.

"You've gotta be the luckiest piece of shit shinejob I've ever met." Opryszko gave a short bark of laughter and tossed the helmet out the window. I didn't complain. "And probably the craziest one too."

"I take it we're still alive." I groaned. My adrenaline was pounding so fast through my veins that my limbs were tingling. The near death-ness of the experience had me shaken hard. "So what's the bad news?"

"We're dead in the air." One of the Justicars took off his helmet and wiped his face. He was a grizzled and weary-eyed man, but had the build of a professional wrestler. There wasn't an ounce of excitement on his face. "And even if you pull off another miracle shot like that, it'll take us off the rail."

"Great." I staggered to my feet with Opryszko's help. "Any good news?"

"They haven't fired a third shot." Adin stumbled out of the engine compartment and slipped into a seat. He collapsed like a sack of liquid, limp. "Holy hells, that wasn't fun."

"Opryszko?"

He had moved over to a window and was looking out as best he could, careful to not stick anything out. The noise that came out of his mouth qualified somewhere between angry and excited. "Looks like they're sending out a tram. They're either going to board us or tug us in."

"Any chance there's a third option?" I glanced about and found my hotshot lying on the floor in the engine compartment. Limping over, I retrieved it and used it as a crutch. "Because I'm not particularly chipper with our situation."

"We could jump ship." Munzi took a peek out the window. "Boarding works both ways."

"It does," I agreed. "But we'd have to clear them fast and take out that missile launcher so they can't take us down again. Backtracking's not an option anymore, thanks to the damn explosion. The rail's all fracked up back that ways."

"So we charge." Opryszko grinned wolfishly. "I like that option. Any objections?"

Everyone agreed. For the Phantines and Justicars, this was their turf. Close in urban combat. Their shotguns would be supremely effective at these quarters. Still, they would likely have a huge boarding party. We would need to wipe them out in seconds, and jump over before the ones back at the tram could realize we were still rearing for a fight. Something that could clean out the whole tram.

I looked down at my hot shot and the solution struck me. My underslung. I felt the adrenaline bleeding away, but this got me excited again. It would be perfect.

Adin noticed me reach for the specially marked ammo pouch on my left hip and started chuckling. The other looked from him to me in confusion. I pushed the release on the underslung and the crossbow blades sprang out. It didn't look like much, with only a three inch wingspan, but it wasn't the size of the underslung that mattered. It was the silver, sigil-engraved stake that I pulled out of the pouch. That didn't look powerful either, but I had no doubt it would do the trick.

The other tram was close enough that I didn't have to move to the window to spot it. I could see plenty of faces inside. Maybe twelve. The tram itself was four cars long. They were all in the middle one.

"Find cover," I told them. They gave me odd looks, all except for Adin, who wisely dropped to a crouch and pressed his back against the bulkhead. Seeing the Kasrkin drop, the others followed suit. I calmly loaded the stake into the underslung and cocked it back. Remaining in the doorway, I waited for the tram to come alongside us.

It did, grinding to a halt with a painfully loud shriek of metal. Their door opened and I heard the eager shouts of the convicts. Grapnels lashed out and caught the windows on either side of the door, locking us into place. Fine. Made them an easier target. Approaching the door, I pressed the button and it slid open.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the men saw a fully armed Kasrkin soldier standing in the hatchway. Some of the men had Guard unit tattoos, but even those that didn't recognized the armor. Faces paled, and weapons lowered as the eagerness and anticipation drained away.

I lifted the hot shot and flashed a ruthless smile. "Thanks for the ride."

The hot shot bucked hard as I fired the stake. The silver bolt crossed the gap in a flash, impaling the first man and throwing him backwards. For an eternity-long second nothing happened. Then an icy wind clapped outwards, erupting in a soundless burst that swept through the tram and hurled me back a step. I heard the void rush of air as psychic energy washed past. A wordless prayer of thanks echoed in my head as the chill swept my body. Looks like Lord Verne was right. The last time I had been hit by a psychic energy blast it had hurt a little. The nascent Blank in me was starting to grow. I had hardly felt it.

It hadn't gone so well for the convicts. As the psychic energy reached its limit it fell back in on itself, rolling up into a compact ball of furious cold. It vanished in a soft crack about as loud as dropping a helmet. The tram had fallen completely silent. None of the bodies moved. The faces that I could see were twisted and wrenched in horrible agony. It might have been fast by standard time, but from what I had heard, death by psychic energy could last a year in a second.

I couldn't bring myself to care.

"All clear," I said, my voice much calmer and steadier than before. They slowly rose to their feet, staring at the now-motionless tram in horror. Even the Phantines were disgusted.

"What in the hells was…"

"You don't want to know," Adin assured them. He slung his long las over his shoulder and drew his sidearm, a high caliber, eight-shot stub revolver. Muttering something about crazy, he got a running start and leapt into the other tram. His landing turned into a tumble but he came up with his revolver drawn on the bodies, just to be sure. After a moment he motioned urgently for us to cross. "Before they figure out what the hell is going on."

We cross one at a time, trying to not think about just how long we would be falling before we hit ground. The Justicar that knew the trams immediately moved into the engine compartment and got us rolling.

"Why haven't they started shooting yet?" Opryszko asked. "Don't they realize their men are dead?"

"Maybe not." I started scrounging around the convicts for weapons. Emperor knew we might need anything we could find. One man had a fine leather double shoulder holster. I strapped it on over my armor and set about finding two pistols that could fit. I found an auto and a handcannon. All of the weapons were safed. I frowned. "You know, it just occurred to me that they probably have no idea who the hell we are."

"So?"

"So…" I began, fishing for extra clips from the two men whose weapons I had appropriated. "Think about it. A world of convicts in full anarchy and chaos. They've probably had gang territories for decades, but now it's all thrown off by the rioting. This tram might have been a territory-line."

"Meaning… they don't know if we're friendly or hostile?" Opryszko's eyes narrowed."They just shot a missile at us. Two missiles."

"They're convicts. It's what they do." I shrugged. "Maybe they figured after two warning shots they'd send a party over and see if we had some kind of business or something. Or they were checking for survivors. And since there wasn't a shootout between the trams and we jumped over, could be the muckheads in the station think we're peaceful."

"Let's hope so." Opryszko reluctantly took my example and fished about for an extra weapon. He found a solid-looking autogun carbine and gave it to Anton. "Give the melta a rest for a bit. It'll be dangerous to use in these close quarters."

"Aw…" Anton accepted the weapon and immediately started inspecting it. "But it just doesn't have the power."

"Yet somehow life goes on," Opryszko growled. He rechecked the chamber on his shotgun. "If we don't live past the next few minutes, you can complain then."

The tram station was almost in docking range. The people could be clearly seen now, and I started picking out the various weapons emplacements. They had a missile launcher and an autocannon guarding the station. The missile launcher was high in the catwalks where it couldn't be easily accessed but had a commanding view. The autocannon was nestled back a bit on a balcony. The field of fire wasn't as good, but it could rake the entire tram line without too much exposure. We would have to knock out both weapon emplacements if we wanted to get past the station.

I slunk back to the far wall, staying in the shadows, and waved Adin over. He handed me the spent stake. Accepting it with a nod, I slipped it into the pouch and pointed out the weapons.

"Take the autocannon," I told him. It was the less exposed one, the harder shot. We would need his long las on that. The missile launcher would be a sketchy one too, with lots of wires and cables and grating in the way, but if we combined fire something would get through and at least send the gunners scrambling for cover.

"Well hello, gorgeous." The grizzled Justicar flipped over a dead body and came up with a rotary grenade launcher. We stared at him for a moment, dumbstruck. Talk about luck. He worked through the shells, checking each one for payload. "All frags. Got a soft target that needs busting?"

"Any extra shells?" I joined him and started searching. He did too, frantically almost as the tram began to pass under the extreme edge of the station. We came up with a bandolier of eight more shells. Half were frag again, four were krak. God-Emperor be praised. I pulled him to a covered position and spotted the missile launcher for him.

"See them?"

He nodded, understanding. I still felt I had to say it. Just for the relishing of the words across my lips.

"Wreck their day."

He brought the launcher up and rested the barrel against the windowsill. The rest of us ducked low to avoid the prying eyes of the men in the station. The tram was still cold, I realized. Cold and hollow. Some of the dead men had their eyes open. I reached across to the nearest and pushed the eyelids shut. As soon as we got out of the station, we would ditch the bodies. There was no way in hell I was letting them stay onboard.

"We're stopping in fifty meters," the Justicar piloting called back, his voice soft and edgy. I skittered forward, bent over at the waist, and joined him in the engine compartment. This one had only one window, facing forward. They couldn't see us in there, so I straightened up.

"Bring it to a stop," I told him. But be ready to kick this thing out of here once the shooting starts. We're going to try something a little risky."

"Oh, as opposed to taking potshots from missile launchers?"

The man wasn't trembling, but I could tell he was nervous. His shotgun lay against the controls, cocked and ready. I patted him on the shoulder.

"We'll be fine. Just get us out of here as quick as you can."

"Will do."

Opting to stay in the compartment, I stood by the hatch and looked out. There were dozens of men in the tram station, but only a few stood by to receive us. They were armed but relaxed. None were expecting trouble. Glancing farther down the tram, I realized that the last compartment had no windows. They must have been expecting everyone to be in there or something. Stupid gits.

The tram halted and I rode out the deceleration with an easy sway. The instant the tram stopped Adin and the grenade-armed Justicar took the heavy weapons in their sights. Opryszko stood up by the door, holding a dead convict in front of him like a shield. The door opened and one of the men in the station stepped forward.

He was a handsome man, by most standards. Tall and slim with a clean face, sharp features, and pretty-boy blue eyes. Even though he wore a dirty and torn bodyglove, he looked like a prince. The other convicts paled in comparison. A dandy, but his eyes had the too-clear sign of a maniac. A cold, ruthless killer. There weren't any soft ones on a hive prison planet. He was clearly the leader.

The pretty boy had just enough time to frown as Opryszko shoved the barrel of his shotgun out from under the dead man's shoulder. Using the corpse to brace his aim, he fired a round directly into the man's face. The pretty eyes and the sharp cheekbones were mulched by buckshot, and his head disappeared in a fountain of blood and brain bits.

Adin fired a moment later, and the Justicar a moment after that. The man at the autocannon snapped backwards and out of sight, a fresh hole in his forehead. The catwalks around the missile launcher erupted in a fireworks-like display of flame and shrapnel. The gunners were thrown into the air by the blasts, sending them plunging to the station floor below.

The tram lurched forward as the Justicar flipped the engine back into forward. I braced against the hatch and fired with my pistol. The hell pistol punched through the next two men closest to the tram, hurling them onto their backs. Then my field of fire cleared as a long pillar passed by the tram.

The others rose to firing positions, weapons primed and ready. The instant the pillar passed by we saw men scrambling for weapons, heard lasguns and autoguns firing, and we returned fire. No one took time to aim, the convicts were horrible marksmen and we were on a moving tram, but the amount of fire in the air kept most people pinned down. They had nothing that could slow us down. The missile launcher was cleared and the autocannon had no gunner.

Unless that skinny rat bastard got to it, I thought, my eyes picking out a scurrying form near the rear of the station. He was sprinting towards the balcony ladder, intent on the heavy weapon. I couldn't hope to pick him off at this range, with the movement of the tram throwing me off. If he got the autocannon armed quick enough he could chew us apart. Desperate, I called out to Adin.

Munzi answered the call. Standing up suddenly, he produced a laspistol from a hidden holster in his jacket. Something whirred in his bionic shoulder as he took a careful stance, ignoring the incoming hail of death. He snapped off three quick shots. Spine, neck, skull. The man skidded across the station floor a few feet before slamming into the bottom of the stairs.

"When the hell could you do that?" I thundered, fighting to be heard over the gunfire. Munzi ducked backwards behind cover and offered a blank stare.

"Upgrades."

"Sure." I cursed and went back to firing at the main body. Munzi was as much a combat specialist as I was a ballerina. He was a tech operator, solely augmented for communications. That he could hit a man standing still at twenty meters was a testament to the long hours I had spent mid-transit training him. Or so I thought. Where the hell had that shooting come from?

Our tram made it clear of the station and the firing began to slacken. We stopped shooting first, intent on conserving ammunition. The other had mostly been using convict weapons, I saw. Good, that was smart. Save our stuff for the important fights. I should have done that.

"Sound off," I ordered. Everyone reported back unharmed. Adin made his way to the back compartment and pried the door open. He looked back and called for me.

"They're bringing a secondary tram onto the line."

I joined him and watched. There were two tram lines, but each station had an extra line on each to house an auxiliary tram and a third active one in case of rush hours. The auxiliary tram was slowly deploying onto our same line. It looked light and newer than ours. Probably faster too.

Turning back to the others, I pointed to the grizzled Justicar. "Launcher, front and center."

He came up alongside us and assessed the situation without being asked. Loading a krak round into the opened chamber, he racked the slide and took aim. "Watch the back blast," he muttered. We obediently cleared out. One trigger pull later found the tram's engine compartment crumpled in and smoking. The convicts gave up after that.

"Well then." I wiped my forehead with the back of my glove. Sweat made the armor shine. "What's our next stop?"

"The hospital," Adin told me. "Let's hope that our welcome there is a little less shooty."


	8. Knock Knock

Author's Note:

Apologies for taking so long to get this posted. Due to work and other forces of nature I have not had access to the internet much over the summer and haven't been able to work on the story much. Reviews would be appreciated, partially because from now on I will be delving into a section of 40K lore that I am not as familiar with. Thanks for your patience.

The hospital's tram station stood empty and foreboding. After already having three dangerous encounters on the tram, we were eyes-peeled for something to go wrong. Here and there a rat scurried about the pipes, and a barely attached signed creaked in the wind. The place reminded me of a ghost town, a habitat abandoned after chemical strikes.

That was how Kairn had become a penal colony, come to think of it. Some half-assed rebellion thousands of years ago. The Imperial Navy had just nuked the planet from orbit rather than risk sending in a few divisions to clean up the mess. Low priority. That's what Kairn had been. Then they started shipping in criminals, and a couple hundred years later came the Justicars and the somewhat organized system.

What must the civilians have gone through, I wondered. The hospitals couldn't have been spared in the chaos and anarchy that would have consumed the planet over time. Faded echoes of bullet holes decorated the walls. Faint stains on the ground marked the locations of favored mass execution sites. I tasted bile on my tongue as I stepped off the tram and into the station.

"Fan out," I whispered, cautious. They took up defensible positions around the station, waiting to see if we had a welcoming committee. No one showed. I waited five minutes. Still nothing. The convicts wouldn't have the patience to wait that long. They would have come charging out of the stairwells and doorways and tunnel hatches. We saw no mob.

Calling everyone back in, I led the way to the elevator. These were smaller, more compact and clearly not designed to hold large crowds. With only seven of us left, we managed to squeeze in. Adin checked the board while the rest of us shifted to get comfortable.

"Level One-One-Six appears to be active." Adin punched a few buttons and the number 1-1-9 appeared on the elevator screen. "I'll drop us off three floors above to give us a safe approach."

"Good. We'll start there." Our bodies rocked a little as the elevator started descending. I craned my neck to see over Opryszko's shoulder. "What do you mean active?"

"Power readings from that floor are still registering. There's something there."

"The elevator tells you that?" I cocked an eyebrow in wonder.

"That and my superior hacking skills."

Adin would have been beaming under his helmet. I looked away to hide my exasperation.

"Munzi?"

Munzi's head twitched in my direction. "My vox array caught a tightbeam broadcast. Squad-type channel. Lowkey signature, but high frequency."

"Meaning…" I only understood half of that. While waiting for him to fill in the rest in plain language I checked the elevator screen. 1-4-2.

"Vox signature identifies 94.3% with Adepta Sororitas battlenet communications."

"Any chance you can crack into the channel?"

Munzi stared at the wall. From my position I could almost see his augmetic eye swirling and churning. "Negative. I cannot pinpoint the authorization codes."

"We'll just have to give them a knock then." I checked the screen again. 1-3-6. "Watch your fire down here, boys. We don't want to go shooting the Emperor's daughters."

Someone snickered. I didn't have the patience to correct him. Daughters they might be, but stories said the Sisters of Battle, as they were called, handled shit just as bad as the Space Marines. Worse, almost, since they fought almost solely against demonkind. I even heard they weren't aug'ed like the Marines. These would be some tough-as-nails, badass women.

1-2-0.

"Prep 'em."

The doors opened and we jammed just about every barrel we could out of the doors. An empty lobby greeted us. Skeletal remains lined the walls, trussed up on makeshift cots. Some were well preserved, others were rotted down to the bone. Stink and rot clogged the air so thickly that a haze had settled.

We piled out into the lobby. I took an immediate right, betting that there would be stairs somewhere in that direction. It was the closest corner. Stairs were always at corners.

My boots kicked up a lair of dust as I moved, sending beautiful clouds flitting through the hall. Here and there tiny pinpricks of light slipped through the doors of the hospital rooms, illuminating the elegant spirals. Almost beautiful. Halfway down the hallway, I realized I had been holding my breath. Exhaling sharply, I took a short breath and coughed. Dust slid into my throat and coated my mouth. I spat it out and covered my mouth. Damn.

A light clicked on behind me, tearing away the darkness and exposing the entire hallway. I heard the collective gasp from the group as we found that the line of bodies carried on even further. All the way to the end. Hundreds of bodies, dead and rotten from… what? Neglect? Disease? I pointed with my hot shot lasgun and nudged a loose bone. It disintegrated. These bones were ancient, undisturbed for who knew how long.

"Fracking hives."

I didn't understand how people could stay sane in a place like this. Most hives were just like this, only with more people. I had met a guy once, a former merchant. Four floors from his apartment there had been a fire. Thirty people killed when the flames swept through the place. No one had cleaned it up for ten years.

The longer I was on this planet, the more I hated it.

"Adin?" I turned back and searched for him, fighting against the light shining my way. His armored form shuffled up beside me.

"Yes?"

"Take the lead and find us a stairwell. I want out of this place."

"Aye." He nodded and rumbled off down the hallway. I followed at a slower pace, careful to avoid kicking up any more dust. The others showed similar constraint. Our footsteps echoed up and down the floor, clinking and thudding far too loudly for our comfort. The whole thing felt serene, dangerous. Like one of those vids where you just knew someone was about to get killed. I casually glanced back at the others. Munzi had the longest hair, slicked back into a now-ragged ponytail. It was always the guy with the longest hair.

Superstitious, maybe. But I had seen enough shit to appreciate the way it put me on edge. We were tired, all of us. The temptation to lie down and rest tugged at my shoulders. I didn't need that kind of distraction right now. Especially not when the ground was littered with rotting corpses.

"Got a stairwell."

A second light flicked on. Adin shined it in our direction to make sure we could see. I tapped mine once to acknowledge and it vanished. He didn't need the light. His visor could enhance the ambient light and give him something to work with. I missed that already. Not having a helmet made me feel naked, vulnerable. As soon as we got back to the barge, I promised myself, I would get a replacement. Lord Verne wouldn't mind sparing the money. He tended to be pretty indulgent with us as long as we did our jobs.

The stairs were open to the floor, not stuck in a self-contained well. I motioned for Adin to lead and we trickled down, one at a time. We went straight down to Level One-One-Seven. From there Munzi could pinpoint the Sisters' location.

Level One-One-Seven was just as quiet as One-One-Nine. The only difference, a much better difference, was that it showed signs of recent use. There were no lines of bodies, no thick coats of dust on the floors and walls. The bullet holes were fresher, the blood darker and more crusted. I even saw a little bit of a shine in one puddle.

Which meant someone had been here in the past day. I willed all thoughts of tiredness and sleep out of my mind and motioned for our team to take intervals. We wouldn't get caught up in a bunch. Deprived of my helmet communicator, I used simple, ubiquitous hand signals that everyone in the hallway would recognize. _Teams of two. Clear the rooms._

Adin and I paired up, as we always did. We took turns, him leading into one room, me the next. There were bodies here and there. Some were in beds, tucked away neatly and long dead. Some were splayed out in various positions. A las mark here, a knife wound there. All men. A couple Justicars. Recent to the week, I figured.

Still though, we found no signs of life until Adin pointed out a thick trail of blood that led into the level-surgery room. Fresh blood. We called the entire team together. Opryszko took Anton and the Justicars around to the other side. The doors gave way to solid kicks and we rushed the room.

It was almost the size of the central lobby, with eight sets of beds and surgical equipment placed evenly through the room. Everything was white. Everything except the faded blood splatters around the tables and the gleaming trail of blood that made its way into the center of the room. A single body lay there, curled up and silent.

The first thing I picked out of the mess was that it had been a woman. Her hair was long and in a ragged mess, half torn out of what looked like a bun. What remained of her face appeared sharp and hardy, but the entire left side had been charred. One of her legs had shattered, bent in so many odd angles that Munzi gagged.

But that wasn't what we focused on. What drew our attention was the gore covered chainsword clamped tightly in her right hand. The chain had gone off rail at some point and pooled around the hilt. The rest of the blade bore testament to some vicious last stand. I knelt beside the body and rolled it over. The stench of cooked flesh overwhelmed my senses for a moment, then I forced myself past that and examined the bullet-ridden tunic that she wore.

Stamped on the front of the dark grey tunic was a golden Fleur-de-lis. A Sister.

"Shit." I looked up to the others. "Looks like we found them."

"Well, where are the others?" Adin returned to the door we had entered through and looked out into the hallway. "And where are all the bodies? Looks like she took her account before going down."

"Could be they dragged her here as a distraction."

There was something tucked under her hip. I moved to her other side to get a better look. It was flat and dull grey. Some kind of cylinder that could fit in the palm of my hand.

"Maybe, but it's still close to them. Only a floor away."

Opryszko knelt down beside me, studying the woman's ravaged face. There was a hard look in his eyes. The look of a professional soldier who watched men die for a living. He stuck a finger out and swabbed the burnt flesh. "She was a tough one. That's a Promethium burn."

My eyes flicked up to her face. I could almost picture that, her fighting with half of her face ablaze. Some soldiers liked to claim that such stories of heroics were mere legend. Their mistake was only in calling it heroic. My gaze returned to the thing under her hip. Pressing lightly, I slid her body off.

"Is it just me," Adin was saying, "or does this smell like a trap?"

A light blinked on the object as the weight of her body disappeared. A pin shot up, free of its casing. Concussion mine. _Chirp__ChirpChirp_.

"Fra-"

The floor exploded. A blinding flash burned my eyes as the mine erupted. Opryszko and I stumbled backwards, fighting for balance. It was useless. With the floor buckling and crumbling we dropped flat on our backs. For the briefest moment I felt weightlessness in my gut. Then pain shot up my spine as I landed on the floor below. A boot rose over me and smashed down on my collarbone, pinning me in place.

I reached instinctively for my sidearm, one hand clamping down on the boot's ankle as I did. Then a bolt pistol was shoved in my face and I heard shouting. The others appeared at the lip of the hole in the floor, staring down with weapons raised. So many voices called out and screamed and commanded. Not that I was paying attention to that.

I was thoroughly entranced by the gaping maw of the bolt pistol hanging just inches over my eyes.

"In the name of the Holy Emperor I order you to stand down!"

A face appeared far above the pistol, staring down at me with callous and fire-hard eyes. Shockingly white hair was matted against her forehead, shining with sweat and blood smears. I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a sputtering cough as I fought to breathe.

Adin answered for me. I heard his helmet-modulated voice boom out at full volume overhead. The electronic noise cut through the panic and shut everyone up.

"Stand down, men! Stand down. Stow your weapons, they're friendly."

"That remains to be seen," the woman over me growled. In her other hand was a bolter, held firmly aimed at the team on the floor level above. I shifted my head a little to take in the scene. Opryszko was beside me, likewise pinned by another woman with a flamer in her hands. There were five women in the room. Three, our two assailants and one more, were armored in cobalt power armor and the same grey tunics as the dead woman. Purity seals and other religious ornamentations decorated their armor. Each had white hair and a cross tattooed somewhere on their face. The Sisters of Battle.

The other two wore the same outfit as the dead one. A simple tunic over a bodyglove. They held las pistols in their hands. Trembling hands. Those must be the Initiates. They had softer faces, warmer eyes. A silver Fleur-de-lis decorated the hair-scarves that covered their heads.

The speaker motioned for the two Initiates to back away. Keeping her eyes locked on Adin, she thumped my chest with her bolt pistol. "Identify yourselves, now!"

"Troop Sergeant Adin Cisk," he called back. He dropped one hand from his long las and fished his rosette out of his harness. A light beam illuminated the badge as the third Sister traced her bolter's firing arc across it. "Retinue of Inquisitor Lord Verne, Ordo Malleus. We're here to help."

"As if you could."

Scowling darkly, she lifted her foot and took a step back. I took my time getting back up, knowing better than to make a sudden scramble. Recovering my hot shot, I laid it out on a table and produced my own rosette.

"Senior Sergeant Leon Kane," I told her. I didn't bother extending a hand. She studied the rosette for a moment, then searched the faces of everyone else. The scowl remained.

"Which one of you is Verne?"

"None," I answered. "We were separated when our Valkyrie was shot down. Right now we're trying to figure out a way to reconnect with him and our mission."

The Sister harrumphed and gestured for her Sisters to stand down. The armored ones remained wary, but the Initiates' faces melted into relieved sighs. The speaker's face darkened at the breach of comportment.

"Remember yourselves," she snapped. "Daughters of the Emperor show no fear."

They blanched but recovered quickly. Adopting calm expressions, they approached Opryszko and me. Each carried a satchel on her hip. One came up to me and produced a scrap of faith paper. She began wiping the blood and grit from my face. The others backed away from the hole, saying something about coming down the stairs. I waited in silence, staring back at the Sister-Speaker. She did not appear pleased at all.

"You are a sorry lot," she ground out. Her head twitched to the left as someone else entered the room. The entire side of her neck was stitched up, I saw. It looked like someone had tried to saw her head off. Nearly succeeded too, judging by the amount of bandages.

The newcomer was armored like the others but fresher faced and less decorated. She hesitated in the doorway, eyeing me with undisguised curiosity. Then, remembering herself, she bowed her head respectfully. "Sister Superior, I heard voices. Is…"

"We have guests" the Sister snapped. "There will be more coming down the stairs. See to it you don't accidently kill them."

_Sister Superior. Myrabeth. That was her name._ I remembered it from the briefing. She was the one in charge. Clearing my throat to get her attention, I also bowed my head.

"We've taken several casualties, ma'am. Sergeant Cisk and I are Kasrkin. Sergeant Opryszko and Corporal Anton are Phantine skytroopers. And the Justicar troopers are on temporary loan from the 4th District."

"And the mech?"

"Munzi is our communications specialist."

"Ah." She shook her head slightly. "Seven does not make a full Valkyrie."

"No it doesn't," I agreed. She did not ask for the rest. One glance at my eyes and she knew.

"You have my condolences," she said. Despite the sneer in her face I believed that she meant it. "How did you find us?"

"We kind of just prayed that you'd be here." I shrugged. The Initiate finished with my face and began inspecting my armor. I moved around to accommodate her. Despite her unfamiliarity with the armor she managed to not unhitch anything as she checked the joints. "We came in by tram and Munzi pinged your vox."

Her eyes narrowed sharply. "You what?"

"All we got was location," I said, holding up my hands. "He didn't crack your channel, nor did he try."

"Ensure that his curiosity does not send him in that direction." The Sister slid her bolt pistol back into its holster. Her eyes swept the room one final time and she motioned for us to leave. "The explosion might draw scavengers. It is best we return to a secure location."

The Initiates filed out under her moody gaze. She waved us forward and we stalked out, weapons held in a nonaggressive posture. The younger Sister stood halfway down the hallway, bolter clutched to her chest. Adin appeared at the base of the stairs. His light shone down the hallway as he marked us, then the others followed him. He rumbled to a stop before the Sister Superior and snapped his hand over his brow in salute.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Some of our men need medical attention, if you still have that capability."

"Most of our supplies have been lost," she replied. "We will see what we can do. Come, it is too dangerous for us to stay out here. There is a safe room on the next floor down."

"After you then." He ambled up beside me and clapped me on the shoulder. The Sisters took off at a brisk pace, the younger one remaining on rear guard. Adin glanced around to double-check our numbers, then nudged me. "I always knew we would find them, but not like that. A simple knock would have sufficed."

"Shove it." I shrugged and reached up to feel my face. The faith paper worked wonders. I hardly felt pain from the various cuts and bruises. Healing quickly. "It's a miracle we've found them at all."

"Sure is. A genuine Cadian miracle." His voice lowered to a whisper. "But damn they looked scuffed up. How much help do you think they'll be able to muster?"

"They're Sisters of Battle," I countered, matching his tone. "Just one of them would be enough."

He huffed and looked away. My eyes followed his helmet and I realized, not for the first time, how frustrating it was to not be able to read his face. Sometimes we took that for granted. Since we couldn't speak in private, I settled with looking to the others. The grizzled Justicar, Sizon I think his name was, walked with the grenade launcher cradled in his hands. Since discovering it on the tram he had cleaned it off and carried it like a newborn babe. The fact that we had discovered it still had me shaking my head.

Sizon caught me eyeing the launcher and sidled over. He bobbed his head in deference. "How long've you been in the service?"

"Pre-Inquisition?" I thought about it and shook my head. "A long time. On Cadia we're kind of born into the fight. I was stripping lasguns before I walked. Lord Verne requisitioned our unit… ten years ago. Was a full platoon of us back then."

"Just you two left?"

"Yep. Thirty-seven men, seven years. Adin and I have been hanging on for three years by ourselves."

He whistled. "I've lost men before, sometimes a whole lot, but not like that. Hells, and you two made it for so long? Must be rough."

I started to say "You have no idea," but held back. A Justicar on a hive-world-turned-prison-planet would know something close enough. At least I had moments of pleasure and rest in my service. These Justicars lived their entire lives on the front line. A quieter front line, but a front line nonetheless.

"It's tiring," I chose to say. One of the Sister Initiates glanced back at us. I met her gaze, watching her unsure eyes waver for a minute before she turned back to the stairs. They were young. Couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen. Tall for their ages, but there was no mistaking the youthfulness of her gaze. Shit, I hated watching kids that young get killed. "But after a while it all blends together."

Sizon grunted and lifted the grenade launcher to his shoulder. The movement tipped his helmet to the side, and I saw numerous whitened scars on his jaw line. It looked like the ghost of a shrapnel burst. "So, what kinds of freaks do you have?"

"Freaks?" I refused to let the casual reference get under my skin. I doubt he meant ill. Most soldiers didn't, they just liked to keep things simple. A Psyker wasn't a superhumanly gifted being with powers beyond the norm; he was a freak, and so on. With all the focus on purity and strict obedience to the Emperor, it made sense to regard all other-types as something less than human.

"Yeah, muties and such." He gestured to Munzi, who had half-turned in their direction with an amused smile. It was aimed at me because the Justicar had no idea that he was talking to one such 'freak.' Sizon didn't know though, and he offered a non-apologetic shrug.

"A few," I answered. "We've got a few. They've all got their place."

"Sure." Sizon gave us a knowing wink. "I can think of a few places for that Interrogator of yours. The blonde babe, what's her name?"

The Sisters shot us dark looks. I took a pointed step away from the Justicar to distance myself and shook my head.

"She oversaw the Exterminatus of her home planet. You wouldn't want to go there."

That wiped the grin off of his face. Shooting an apologetic look to the Sisters, I patted his shoulder. "Mission at hand, Sizon. We've got some patching up to do."


	9. Sisters In Arms

The Sisters of Battle saferoom was little more than a heavily barricaded kitchen. It looked like the primary kitchen hub for a dozen or more floors, so it was big and had plenty of space. Every square meter had been taken up by weapons, medicine, cots and other supplies. Two more Sisters greeted us at the entrance, and further inside was another Initiate and four Justicars. They were all beat up and bruised, the remains of the security element perhaps.

The Sister Initiates set about patching up the worst of the injuries, trained hands moving across the cuts and burns with feathery grace. I watched it all with a detached eye, slinking along the wall so that I could take in the entire room. It was hardly defensible. If we had to stage a stand here, things would not go well. Too little solid cover. I estimated that a well-placed frag grenade could touch most of the room.

I placed my faith in the Sister's preparedness. They had survived thus far and, if the state of them could tell, they had roughed it the entire time. Some kind of warning system had to be in place to give us at least a minute to prepare if the enemy came knocking.

My eyes drifted across the Sister Initiates. All young, none older than twenty. This was a hell of a way to train. I wondered if they had treated only Justicars before the revolt. It wouldn't have made sense, given the distance this hospital stood from the District Armory. A convict-hospital then. Or maybe a field hospital that applied to both. Either way, I knew it was better to not ask.

"Anything I can do to help," I asked, catching the eye of one of the passing Sister Initiates. Her eyes flinched away as if afraid to make eye contact. She looked the youngest of the bunch, with a board-flat body and a touch of baby fat to her face. Couldn't have been more than thirteen. But her arms were red to the elbows from blood, and the heavy bags under her eyes told me she was not a slacker in her work.

"Do… I require no assistance, guardsman." For the briefest moment she stood there, shifting weight from foot to foot, avoiding my gaze. Then she bobbed her head and curtsied ever so slightly. It was hesitant, as if she knew she shouldn't. Maybe an old habit that the Sisters were grinding out of her. "Thank you for offering."

She hustled off to an unattended cot, kneeling beside a still body. Slipping her satchel from her hip, she set about checking the IV drip, brushed a patch of synthflesh to ensure it had stuck, and turned him over onto his side. I studied the ravaged man's face for a long minute. The right side of his head had been heavily bandaged, but I gathered everything I needed from the left. Square-jawed, with a bristly beard, hard set eyes and too many wrinkles. An older Justicar. It didn't matter who he was in particular. All that mattered was that he had fought long and hard. The Sister Initiate would try to save him, but he was a dead man. The slack in his face spoke of a man come to terms with his death. His spirit had accepted the end, even if his body hung on. She was wasting her time.

The other wounded held different stories. One, a scarred grunt with one eye blinded and only half of his right hand, smiled at the ceiling even as the Sister Initiate fought to stem the bleeding from his gut. A terrible wound, and recent. My experience told me that he had to be in excruciating pain, but the only thing that seemed to matter to the man was the beautiful face that worried over him as his life force ebbed away. A spasm wracked his body even as I watched, and his disfigured hand shot forward to clutch hers. He pulled her fingers away from the wound, refusing to let her waste synthflesh and stim packs. She tried to pull away, a frustrated grimace rising on her lips, but he whispered something to her that stopped her cold. His hand squeezed hers…

I turned away and bowed my head. A damn brave man. I whispered a prayer for his spirit and moved on towards the center of the room. Sister Superior Myrabeth stood beside a table, watching the proceedings with a sneer on her lips. I got the feeling that the sneer had nothing to do with us in particular. Perhaps it was merely her natural state of being. Two of the armored Sisters listened to her as she issued some order in low tones. Her eyes flicked my way, transfixing me with a hard look. I didn't bother looking away. Tipping my head slightly, I tapped the pouch on my harness that held the rosette. Her eyes narrowed, but she returned her attention to the Sisters and growled out a final command. Then, bowing respectfully, they turned and exited the room.

"You have something to say?" She indicated the table and I strode over. Sliding my hotshot onto the table, I pulled the rosette and set it down as well. Clearly in her view, to remind her that we weren't ordinary grunts.

"First off, we appreciate the medical aid. I don't think we would have lasted much longer if we had run into any more enemies."

She snorted under her breath. I ignored her and pushed a button on the back of the rosette. The map of Kairn flared into view, momentarily lighting the room in a bluish glow. I waited a few seconds for the map to orient itself and highlight our current location. The revelation made me groan inwardly. We were close, by Valkyrie. On foot, it might take us a day or more to reach the location we were to search.

"We're a little desperate right now, so I don't mind telling you this." I tapped the map to zoom in on the search area. "Lord Verne brought us here to find this man. Kyle D. Shechem. He's a psyker, slipped through the cracks and made it into Kairn."

"Shechem." The Sister repeated the word with a snarl. "We know him. His men were the ones that assaulted the hospital."

"From what we," I motioned around the room to my team, "have been told, he's a charismatic and heretical genius. Possible Cognitae connections."

She stared at me blankly, not recognizing the name. I shrugged.

"Bad news, that's all you need to know. His original designation was for the Sector Ordos, but they took damage from pirates and had to transfer stock to a regular prison ship. Someone fracked up the paperwork and the entire stock was let loose on Kairn."

"Including the Sector Ordos prisoners. When did this happen?"

I shook my head. "Not entirely sure, to be honest. Somewhere in the past three years."

"Then It is entirely possible that he is one of the reasons behind Kairn's revolution. This chaos has been on the rise since the past two years." Sister Superior Myrabeth frowned and stalked around the table to see the map from my view. She slid the view closer to our position. Finding a mark, she tagged a small, insignificant portion of the hive city. An ancient place, pre-hive with relatively low structures. They ranged merely in the dozens of stories, as opposed to hundreds. "His center of power is here. Before we thought him merely a dangerous man with a large band at his beck and call. If he is a heretic psyker, then we must aid you in hunting him down and purging this planet of his existence."

I blinked slowly, eyes dancing around the room. The Sisters had all stopped and turned to watch, drawn by the Sister Superior's raised voice. More than one stood in reverence to her command. Sister Myrabeth nodded curtly for them to go back to their work.

"You will?"

"Our duty is clear. If there is a definable force of evil, then we are bound to remove it. I assure you that you will not be displeased by our addition to your command."

"On the contrary, ma'am. You'd be more than welcome."

"Of course." She brushed back various objects from the table with a broad sweep of her hand. "And we can provide transportation as well. However, there is a complication."

"Better transpo with a complication than none with a smile," I joked. Her eyes flicked towards mine and she growled.

"In the assault on the hospital we disabled all lifts within two levels."

"Disabled?"

"Blew the lines. Most of the lifts were lost, filled with scum caught in our traps. The nearest available lift is a service one located on Level One-One-Four. The next available floor is ten below that."

"So we use One-One-Four." I nodded meaningfully towards the wounded. "We can move them two levels."

"Yes…" she pulled a floor blueprint out of the bundle of papers. "But the lift is currently damaged. Our Initiates were working on repairs, but we had to choose between the repairs and our wounded. Before we can use it we need to finishing repairing the lift."

I took the blueprints from her and studied them carefully. The hallway by the lift was not large. The Level designation read: Maintenance. I huffed in irritation at the irony of it. "How long will it take to finish?"

"Initiate Elphene!"

A Sister Initiate with silvery-blonde hair scurried forward. I half-watched her as she reported to the Sister Superior with all the crispness and decorum of a parade guard. The oldest, to be sure.

"Aye, Sister Superior."

"How were the repairs on the lift proceeding?"

"It was rough, Sister Superior." She stuck her chin out proudly. "The technicals were in shambles and we don't have all the right parts. At my last estimate though, it couldn't take more than a couple hours' work, providing Sister Initiate Nala aids me."

"Do you need Initiate Nala?"

"Two sets of hands would make light work, Sister Superior."

The Sister looked across the room thoughtfully. I guessed that numbers were running through her head and held my breath. Finally, she returned her attention and nodded. "Very well then, Initiate Elphene. Initiate Nala will accompany you. While you work the repairs we will prepare the wounded for evacuation. We are leaving the hospital."

A brief flash of relief broke the Initiate's concentration. She bowed her head and set off for a corner of the room crowded with supply crates. Sister Superior Myrabeth dismissed the Initiate from her mind and set her focus on me.

"We will need as many hands as possible to pack up. The emergency supplies are already assembled." She pointed with her bolt pistol. "But the Initiates will need guards. Level One-One-Four is not actively held by the prisoners, but it is patrolled from time to time. Otherwise the repairs might have been finished. You will need to guard them."

"I can do that." I thumped a fist across my shoulder. "The rest of my team will remain here with you. In case shit hits that fan though, I would like to request that Sergeant Cisk maintain the Phantine troopers as a rapid response team. They are highly skilled in these conditions and would easily be able to hold the floor, should the situation become… unpleasant."

"Done. Contact us when you arrive. The Initiates will show you the way."

The subheading for Level One-One-Four marked it as a utility floor. The sparse placement of such floors should have warned me that it would be quite large and full of open spaces. It served at least the ten adjacent floors around it, if not more. I prepared myself for long boulevard-like hallways with plenty of machinery and even ground rails. Sending me alone with the Initiates suddenly didn't feel nearly as smart as I had thought.

It wouldn't have been, were it not for that fact that the lift in question proved to sit on a hazmat/emergency chute. We found it tucked away in a back hallway a touch smaller than the normal passages, and less well lit. Defensible enough for my liking, and obscure too. With luck any patrols, providing there were any, might miss the passageway altogether. I didn't mind that possibility.

The lift in question had been made to transport large quantities, and consequently looked to have the capacity to fit our entire group and most of the equipment. Given time, we might have been able to pack everything from the safe room into it. I gave a low whistle for the Sister Initiates, to let them know I approved. Initiate Elphene shot me a withering look. It might have worked on an unblooded guardsman, but her with her youthful face she appeared only petulant.

Approaching the electrical closet beside the lift, I checked the rune-pad. A few days worth of dust coated it. I nodded to the Sister Initiates and took a step back. Initiate Nala punched in the correct code and the door slid backwards with a hiss.

"Revolving door," I muttered, impressed. "That's old school."

They ignored me. Following them into the closet, I activated the light on my hotshot. The narrow beam revealed a general state of decay and neglect as I swept it across the room. Loose cables sprawled about like coiled snakes, ready to trip the Sister Initiates as they picked their way forward. A circuit box chirped weakly overhead, lighting the room every few seconds with sparks. I idly rolled a bucket over and examined it. Teeth marks. Some kind of rodent had been in here.

"Either of you afraid of rats?" I pointed to the bucket with my hotshot. Neither Sister Initiate smiled.

"Guard the passageway, guardsman." Initiate Elphine narrowed her eyes in her best attempt to intimidate me. "Leave us to our work."

They clustered around a tool box, apparently left behind in their retreat, and began taking stock of what remained. I watched for a moment, stifling a chuckle as they fumbled through the mess. Initiate Nala heard the faint echo and turned, mouth quirked a curious frown. She smiled slightly when I ripped my head and turned back to the passage. Initiate Elphine muttered something about men and I smiled even broader.

"Got everything you need in there?"

Despite the humor tinting my voice I did little more than whisper. A moment of shuffling came in reply, then a haughty voice.

"Our gear is intact. It should not take us more than two hours to finish the repairs."

"Two hours," I repeated. "Good. I should have brought a book."

"I don't think you appreciate the danger we are currently in," she snarled. "Our lives hang in the balance here. If you slacken your watch we might all be killed."

I slipped back a step to put myself firmly in the shadow of the doorframe. "Ma'am, in the short time I've been on this forsaken planet I've been shot at, shot down, nearly dropped from a tram, and charged into a mob with only a couple men at my back. Not to mention your Sister Superior almost exfoliated my skull with her sidearm. Do you see me complaining? If you tense up all the time it'll make for a hell of a long two hours. Trust me, anything comes this way, you'll have plenty of heads up, and protection."

"As if I needed…" Her voice trailed off into a string of grumbling curses. I shook my head and checked the setting on my hotshot.

Single shot for now. No sense wasting ammunition. A routine patrol would be small, perhaps five men or less. I wouldn't need a full auto burst for that few. After peering out and listening to ensure there was no one else on the level, I activated my microbead.

"Engineers on site. Repairs underway and routine."

"Roger that," Adin replied. His voice crackled and popped as the transmission fought its way through several floors worth of material. "Finishing gear check now. Team 2 is sitting pretty. Confirm repairs are routine."

"Confirmed. Silence all around."

"Understood. Give a holler if your guests show up. Anything else?"

"Nothing."

"Good. Last thing. Pinged Boss-Man after you left. He's in the neighborhood."

My gut clenched suddenly, a chill rushing through my spine. Was he searching for us, or just happening to be passing by.

"Confirm Boss-Man. Did he greet?"

"Confirmed, but Negative. We waved, but he didn't see it."

The coldness receeded. I took a deep, shallow breath and shook my head. "Understood. Going to sleep now. Play smart out there. I want us home by sundown."

I disconnected and resumed watching the passage. Only the emergency lights remained active, run by some hidden power generator on its last gasp. The pale, flickering bulbs played havoc with my eyesight. I cursed not having my helmet. I had by no means relied on it; Lord Verne made sure that we ran plenty of ops sans-equipment to keep us at our peak. But not having it and the various enhanced imagery made me feel vulnerable. It put me on an even level with the prisoners. That pissed me off. I didn't like going into a battle with only a partial advantage.

There wasn't much to look out in the little side hallway. Only a few lights worked on this floor and those that did flickered like dying embers around a field fire. Not much worth seeing, but I wasn't about to get bored. The soft skittering of rodents in air ducts or on the floors was more than enough to keep me busy. One such critter peeked its head out of a nearby hatch and glared at me with inquisitive brown slits. Its head cocked one way, than the other. A whisper-quiet sniffle accompanied a nose twitch, and it began to inch forward.

It approached up to my boot, where it ducked in and sniffed again. I watched it with disinterest, other foot tensing lightly to kick it. But it merely turned around, lifted its back leg, and marked his boot as territory. I couldn't help but smile as the little rodent strutted away, completely oblivious to how easily I could have crushed it. When it reached the door it looked back and wiggled its nose in defiance.

"Stupid little rat."

Initiate Nala appeared at the door, question clear on her face.

"Rodent." I shrugged. "Apparently we're in its territory."

She stifled a smile and returned to her work. An hour passed. Soft thrum of the Sisters' power tools kept me company as I stood vigil, but it wasn't until an hour and twenty minutes in that I had the first inkling of trouble. Faint voices echoed down the hallway, gruff and guttural as they drew nearer. I melted back into the protection of the doorframe and checked my hotshot. I strained to count the unique voices. Three.

Three would be a short fight. I set the hotshot just inside the door and drew the autopistol and the handcannon. Initiate Elphine called out softly for my attention.

"We've got company incoming" I answered. "Be ready."

There was a pause in the work, then it resumed. I cast a spare glance over my shoulder. They had drawn laspistols. Good. At least they knew that much. Giving the handcannon a good look, I checked the magazine and confirmed that it was full. Three convicts. They couldn't be more than lightly armored.

But what was this? A routine patrol or a couple of bored men wandering around. I was curious, but my answer came when I heard doors begin to open. There was too much pattern to it for it to be random. Door open, five seconds, door shut. I leaned forward until I could see down the hallway. Three, with one handgun between the three of them.

I watched them approach, careful to hide myself every time they looked my way. When they were only two doors down, I pounced. It happened right as they exited the room. I lined up with the last one's head, waiting until they were all in sight. Lifting the hand cannon, I put a bullet right through the man's earlobe. The man's feet kicked out and he skidded down the hallway.

I switched to fire with the auto, but the remaining two dove for cover. To their credit, they hadn't hesitated. Maybe it was survivor's instinct, maybe they were twitchy about being near the Sisters of Battle. The one with the handgun quickstepped to the side, firing blindly down the hallway. The other threw himself for the opposite side door. My burst caught the man in the hip. The startled yelp that rang out told me it was superficial.

The instant the handgun stopped barking, I stepped fully into the hallway and raised both sidearms. I heard a clip drop and another slam in. The armed one shouted to the other in a variant of Low Gothic I could not understand. Had to be something important though. I ducked back as a couple wild shots ripped down the hallway.

"Damn it." I tried to aim, but they were keeping out of sight. When one started running down the hallway, I knew I had to move. Dropping to a crouch, I flopped out into the middle of the hallway and took the shot. The auto-fire stitched up the man's back and spun him around. His head slammed into the wall and he tumbled to the ground.

The lone survivor, the one I had shot in the hip, appeared around the doorframe, brandishing the handgun. I hadn't heard them exchange it. He let out a shot that flew over my head, then the magazine clicked empty. The look of horror on his face disappeared a moment later when I put a round square in his chest. The impact knocked him flat on his back.

Dodging across to the same side as him, I began shuffling down towards him. My vox chirped as Adin came online.

"We heard gunfire. That you having the party?"

"Yep. Shut up for a second."

The wounded man was moaning. I edged up to the door and approached him pistol first. It wasn't a good sight. The man's stomach was a mess of blood and gore. He glared up at me, mouth screwed tightly shut as he fought back a curse. His eyes shifted to the handgun lying just out of reach. Not that it would do him any good.

To his credit, he did not plead or grovel when I raised the pistol and stood over him. Jaw clenched in defiance, he held up a shaking fist. I kicked his hand to the side and stomped down on the wound. A snarl scraped through his teeth.

"Better luck in hell."

The bullet impacted on his skull with the same effect as a sledgehammer on a glass ball. The explosion of gore coated the floor behind him, staining it all dark red. His legs kicked weakly, propelled by nervous twitches in his spine. It reminded me of a stuck fish, squirming its life away. I turned away with a shake of my head. The analogy sat well with me.

"This is Kane. Party crashers have been neutralized. Wouldn't mind some help in case their friends arrive though."

"On it, Kane. Be there in two."

I searched the bodies carefully, seeking but not expecting anything we could use. Finding nothing, I retreated to the utility closet. Initiate Nala greeted me with the barrel of her laspistol. Her hands didn't tremble in the slightest.

"We're clear. The reaction team is on its way to help secure against any more."

Relief played out on her face. Lowering the laspistol, she put a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you. We should be finished soon. Please contact Sister Superior and tell her to begin bringing the others down within the next half."

I relayed the info on. By the time I ended the communication Adin and the Phantines had arrived. They took quick stock of the situation before deploying to cover both directions. Adin approached with solemn steps, his longlas cradled in his arms.

"Didn't hear anything on the stairs, but that won't count for much. If I heard that shooting, there's a good chance any buddies down below heard it too."

"I know." I picked the hotshot back up and glanced past the dead convicts. "Maybe a lot more. How do we run this? Those two stairs aren't the only entryways. Those doors there, there, and there all run the length of the structure. We'll need to watch those too, in case we get some smart ones."

"Concentrated defensive line then." Adin waved Sergeant Opryszko over. "We'll set up in and around this room. Don't sit out too far."

"Fine by me." Opryszko slung his shotgun and checked his laspistol. "Got an estimate on repairs?"

"Almost done. The Sisters will be bringing everything down soon. Once that's happening, two of us should move to the stairs and hold that position. If trouble rises, we will adjust."

He nodded and called out to Anton and shifted him over to a spot nearer one of the access doors. Settling in opposite him, the Phantine sergeant popped a lho stick and began smoking. They seemed content to wait the silence out. Adin, less so. He took up a position facing the other way, but his helmet kept straying towards me. Eventually, I shot him a look.

"What?"

"You not having a helmet is seriously throwing my groove off."

I blinked in surprise. I had not expected that. Not quite sure how to respond, I shrugged.

"I'm not a fan either."

It wasn't long before the Sisters arrived. They marched down the stairs pushing grav-sleds loaded with supplies. The Initiates bore the wounded on stretches. Justicars took the rear of the formation, stopping at the stairs to guard the lower levels. I greeted them as they approached the elevator.

"Is it operational?" The Sister Superior examined the rune panel for the elevator. Her eyes twitched in irritation. "No?"

"Almost, ma'am. They're finishing the job."

Initiate Elphine opened the door to the utility closet. Her face was smeared with grease and oil. Standing smartly before the Sister Superior, she saluted with the sign of the Aquila.

"Initiate Nala is putting the final cord in, Sister Superior. The lift should be operational in…" She pointed to the rune panel. The light behind it flickered on with a little hum. A proud smile graced her lips. "Done."

"Well then," I pressed the rune and listened to the machinery behind it roar to life. The lift wasn't on the level, but it was coming. "That was too easy."

Adin's head turned in my direction. I felt the surge of anger that flowed out of it. "Emperor blast it, Kane! You had to go and say it. Now we're fra-"

The Justicars at the stairs rose suddenly and leaned over the rails. Their shotguns belched death on whatever was below. We all looked that way, and I started running. Adin and the Phantines fell into step, rushing towards the sound of battle with an eager spring in their steps. Calling out over my shoulder, I ordered the Sisters to load the lift. I didn't quite catch the Sister Superior's response, but somewhere in the back of my head it registered as some kind of warning. There would be hell to pay for it later.

"Move over!"

I pulled a Justicar back from the rail. Right as he stumbled back something dinged off of his helmet and slammed into the ceiling. Taking his place, I checked the stairs below us and did a flash-head count. Lots and lots. Adin thinned their ranks with a flashbang and a liberal dose of Phantine gunfire. A dozen fell in the first seconds, but the press didn't let up. Stumbling and groaning, they continued fighting their way up the stairs. I ran down to the landing and grabbed the first one by the collar. His eyes were vacant and grey, not a normal color on any planet I knew. I had seen that kind of stare before. His face was white as death. Already dead.

"Ah, hell." I kicked out the man's knee and hurled him down the stairs. Raising the hotshot, I poured a short burst into the mass. Each shot killed and maimed. One broke through the mob, using a buddy's corpse as a shield. I shattered his nose with the butt of my hot shot and retreated up the stairs. Adin's snub brought him down for good. "Right, time to go."

"Down!" Infernal shrieks rushed up the stairs. Adin held out his hand for me. Grabbing me by the arm, he dragged me behind him and threw me to the ground. Beating wings flapped closer, rising from below. Something hissed overhead and Adin fell on top of me. I heard a grunt, and blood gushed across my face, blinding me. His snub bounced across the floor.

The Phantines started shouting. More guns entered the fray, and familiar promethium heat whooshed overhead. More shrieking. Bolters thundered and pounded in my ears. I couldn't see. Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed for my hotshot and Adin. My hand found a stub of bone where his shoulder should have been. His body jerked away, but I dug my fingers into the joint of his shoulder plates and dragged him to his feet. I heard female voices and staggered towards them.

Sizon's voice rasped in my ear, urging me to run. I heard the racking of the grenade launcher's slide and the hollow thump of a round firing. The shockwave explosion threw me to my feet. A solid, armored boot stopped me from sliding.

"Get up, guardsman."

I took a moment to wipe my eyes as best I could. My eyes stung from Adin's iron-rich blood. Scrambling to my feet, I pulled myself up by the Sister's armored body. She didn't even flinch from firing her bolter. The beautiful, master-crafted weapon burped a steady and accurate stream of death into the incoming horde. Men fell like chaff before the scything fire of her Sisters and the surviving men. Even more pressed from behind though, and seething in their midst flowed unholy shapes with wings and horns and fire. One such creature rose suddenly over the rest, clawed hands digging into the ceiling to support itself. Two bolters shredded its body, spewing steaming chunks of flesh onto the crowd.

"Run, guardsman." The Sister, I didn't remember her face, cast me a spiteful glance. "Run while you can."

I didn't argue. Grunting through the pain, I hurried down the hall, stopping every few feet to turn and add my own fire into the horde. The other men had already retreated. All except Opryszko. The Phantine Sergeant had stayed behind and grabbed Adin's limp body. Dragging my companion by his remaining arm, he fired and cocked his shotgun one-handed as he retreated. The Sister's matched his pace, falling back with little care for the rounds that pinged and sparked off of their armor.

To the lift. Hurry!"

Initiate Nala caught me around the waist as I tripped and fell. How she managed to lift an armored soldier I didn't know, but she muscled me the remaining dozen feet into the lift. The others piled in, still firing. Opryszko entered last, screaming at the Initiates to take Adin. Blood continued to flow out of his arm, weeping and gushing in a way that no mortal wound should have. The reactions on the Initiates' faces told me I was correct. They were horrified by the wound, but did not panic over it. They threw supply crates off of a sled and were stripping his armor before the Sisters had even entered the lift. One of them palmed the rune to close both sets of doors.

A demonic face appeared in front of the lift just as the doors closed. It tried to dart into the lift, but a Sister hurled it out with a bone-crunching punch. Then the air-seal hissed and the only sounds of battle were the faint, echo-like noises from outside. The lights flickered weakly and the lift lurched into motion.

I let myself slide to the ground. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and listened. The after-sounds of gunfire still rang in my ears, but now I heard urgent, quiet muttering and gruff cursing. The air stank of blood and seared skin. A Sister Initiate called for some medical device I had never heard of before. Sister Superior Myrabeth was whispering to one of her Sisters. I couldn't understand any of it. Battle fatigue. Nothing processed in my head. I just knew sounds.

Slender fingers pressed against my skull. I started to open my eyes, but Initiate Nala shushed me and held my head firm against the lift's wall. One hand vanished from my senses. Sitting very still, I tried to find my voice. It croaked and cracked. My throat was dry as dust from being so close to the flamer.

"Adin?"

"He will live." Her voice did not sound so certain. Faith paper wiped across my face. It erased the pain and the crust around my eyes. I creaked one open to examine the girl as she checked the rest of my head for injuries.

"Did we lose anyone?"

"Several of the Arbites were lost" she replied. The weight of her fear broke through her attempted indifference. "Mallo and Rorke. And one of the ones that came with you."

"Who?" I craned my neck to see which faces remained. Opryszko and Anton stood off to the side, stripping their weapons and checking ammunition. Munzi had taken a position opposite me; he stood motionless among the supply sleds, eyes closed. Only one of our Justicars remained: Sizon. He had donned his sergeant's helmet.

"That was… you were brave out there. Charging the unclean and rescuing your comrade." She finished working on my face and stood up. Nodding in respect, she touched the crown of my head in a gesture of blessing. "The Emperor shine his glory upon you, guardsman. For you have shown your worth today."

A sudden blush came over her face and she retreated to the cluster of Initiates working on Adin. They had removed his helmet, but I heard no screams. An empty syringe lay on the floor, tossed away in the flurry of work being done to him. A painkiller. Must have been something high-powered for it to work on him. I had seen demonic wounds before. The level of agony inflicted defied science.

The lift was dropping quickly. The level reader by the doors flashed quickly as we plunged down through the building. It would not be long before we reached the ground floor. I sighed and checked the count on my hot shot. The magazine was all but used up. I had three more.

Sister Superior Myrabeth approached and stood over me. Her face showed a fascinating mix of fury and disdain.

"On your feet."

The words ground out of her like a hammer breaking rock. I stood slowly, fighting back a groan at the various pains in my body as they protested. Coming to attention, I waited for her to continue.

"You _dared_ to give me an order." She struck me across the chest. The blow threw me off my feet and sent me crashing into the side wall. The surge of violence brought everyone in the lift to a stop. When I finally picked myself off the floor, all eyes were on me.

"You, a lowly guardsman, gave an order to one of the Emperor's Daughters. How dare you!"

She kicked my legs out from under me. Light exploded in my eyes when my head struck the floor. I tried to gasp out a breath, but my lungs were empty. Completely winded, I couldn't even raise my arms to defend myself. She struck again, and again. I felt something burst inside my gut.

"Filthy vermin."

Her impossibly strong hand picked me up by my collar and shook me like a doll. Murder raged in her eyes, spoiling the crystal green hue. The barrel of her bolt pistol hovered in front of my face.

"I should kill you and hurl your corpse out for the horde to feast on."

The clack of a shotgun round sliding into place cut her off. Seconds later came a whole rolling snaps and clicks. A lot of things moved in the corner of my eye, but I didn't have the strength to look. One of the Initiates gasped though, and someone rushed to my side.

The Sister Superior's pistol whipped away. Her mouth opened in a snarl but no words came out. Opryszko stood less than an arm's length away, shotgun aimed at her head.

"That, ma'am, would be a bad idea. Sunny and I would have to protest that."

It took the Sister Superior a moment to form any coherent words. The other Sisters had drawn their weapons on him, bolters primed and ready to fire. But he wasn't the only one who had drawn. Anton stood half-behind cover with his meltagun idling, Sizon had the grenade launcher squared on a Sister's torso. Only the Initiates had not drawn. They stood around Adin's sled, faces tight and worried. They huddled around the sled as if it would provide sanctuary.

"Now then, how about you lower your weapon." Opryszko didn't bat an eye at having the high caliber pistol trained on his forehead. He took a long and slow breath. "It's hot in here, and I don't know about you but my trigger finger is a little slick. Wouldn't want to accidently set off a massacre in this here lift."

"Lower yours first." The Sister Superior's voice promised a slow and painful death. "You draw on a far better creature than yourself, guardsman. You know not what wrath you invite upon yourself."

"Spare me the fancy talk. We haven't got the time." The Phantine left his shotgun where it was. "And we sure haven't got the ability to spare a man like Kane. He's the reason we survived this long. He's the reason we got the lift working. He's the reason that I have a hope and a prayer of getting off of this Emperor-cursed planet. Now, I've killed a hell of a lot of the Emperor's foes in my time, and never one of his servants. But right now, I see him being a lick more valuable than you. And you're threatening to kill him."

"You're all mad" one of the other Sisters spat. "Like all men."

"The Emperor is a man, bitch!"

Opryszko lunged forward. There was no indication that he was going to move. No tensing of his muscles, no leaning forward into the spring. One moment he stood there with his shotgun ready. The next he slapped the Sister Superior's bolt pistol aside and rammed the butt of his shotgun in her face. She staggered and let go of me. I landed unsteadily and drew both pistols from my shoulder harness.

Sister Superior Myrabeth tried to recover, but Opryszko tackled her and threw her to the ground. His shotgun dropped in the scuffle, but a blade was drawn and ended up pressed against her throat. A Sister stepped forward to aid her Sister Superior, but I leapt in the way. Keeping the handcannon trained on her throat, I gestured with the autopistol for her to back up.

"Stand down! Drop your weapons!"

"Step aside, traitorous swine. I swear by the Emperor I will"

"Drop your fracking weapon!"

"This is madness. Don't shoot!"

"Cut the traitor down."

"Damn it, get your hand away from the-"

"Stop it!"

A grey-clad Initiate cut in front of me. She held up her hands in pleading, hands glistening with Adin's blood. A frantic gleam lit her eyes as she turned from me to the Sisters.

"Stop it! Please, lower your weapons. We're friends here. We're allies." Initiate Nala's voice lowered to a desperate whimper. She bowed her head and clasped her hands over her chest in supplication to her elder Sisters. "Please."

"I'm not your enemy" I added. As a sign of good faith, I holstered my pistols. Their eyes followed my hand as I pointed above. "_Those_ are the enemy. Sergeant, get off of her."

Opryszko scrambled off of the Sister, combat knife held ready and body alert. He scooped up the sling of his shotgun with his boot and kicked it up into his hands without missing a beat. There was no apology on his face.

"And you" I said, rounding Sister Superior Myrabeth. The fire remained in her eyes, but unarmed as she was, and sporting an unhealthy bruise on her throat, she made no attempt to rise. "You need to grow the hell up. You're like a damn kid on her birthday. Spoiling for a fight with the wrong people."

She glared at me, but held her tongue.

"Heat of battle. I apologize if I'm used to issuing tactical orders, but I'm a senior NCO. That's what I do. If that is going to be a problem, then fix yourself, because we don't have time for you to strut about all high and mighty. No one gives a shit about your rank here. We're all in this together."

I held out my hand. "We good?"

She would have bitten my hand if Opryszko's shotgun hadn't been trained on her. Rising on her own power, she huffed and recovered her sidearm. The tension in the room didn't fade in the slightest.

"I'm going to sit over here now" I announced. "Sizon, keep your launcher trained on them. Krak round loaded?"

"Of course" The Justicar answered. His voice was steeled in the way that only a hardened veteran could. "It'll break their armor as easily as it will break ours."

"Good." I put my hand on Initiate Nala's shoulder and steered her back towards the table. "Now then, the situation calls for us to be allies, but since you insist on being so frosty about it, we're keeping an eye one you. Don't be stupid now. We can't afford for you to be stupid."


	10. Sitting Ducks

"Never thought I would meet a Sister" Opryszko mused. The hatch to the Rhino slammed shut and he emptied the tube of his shotgun. Catching the shell neatly in midair, he pocketed the spare round. "And now here we are, kidnapping four of them."

I spared the Sister Initiates a glance. They would not cause trouble. Only one appeared actually afraid. The rest were busy fighting to stabilize Adin on the sled. Initiate Nala looked up at us at the reference though, and uncertainty reigned behind her eyes. She flinched when I met her gaze.

"It's not kidnapping" I argued, speaking slowly for them to listen in. "Adin needed help. They're just doing their jobs."

"Oh right, because they just love to be crammed in a Rhino full of men." Opryszko snorted in disgust. "I heard that they brainwash their initiates into believing all men are rapists and Chaos worshippers."

"In that order" I muttered, fighting to keep the mood lighter. Only Anton chuckled.

"If this is what the entire Adeptus Sororitas is like, it's no wonder no one likes them. Women have two uses on our planet." Opryszko's mouth curled in a grim smile. "Wanna guess what?"

"Humor me." I shifted past him and approached the vox-link to the driver. We were in an ambulance Rhino. The cockpit had been completely sealed to prevent the mess from distracting the pilots.

"Working in factories, and making babies. That's all any women is good for."

The Initiates cringed. I heard several sharp breaths.

"That's… simplistic. Almost primitive." I activated the vox-link to get a picture of the road ahead. We were pulling out onto one of the alley networks, not the highway. The highway would be too dangerous. "I've known plenty of women that fought with valor and honor."

"Valor and honor" Opryszko slapped his leg and let loose a belly laugh. "I was joking. Hell, we had a commissar once that had more fire than the rest of the company. She once went toe to toe with an Ork just to prove she had what it took to stand alongside Phantine soldiers."

"Just like that. I bet she could out drink any of you and wrestle an Ogren too."

"Nah, she lost that fight." Orpyszko snickered. "But she was a damn good wrestler somewhere else."

The Initiates squirmed uncomfortably. One coughed into her hand, no doubt a polite gesture where she was from. It went completely unnoticed. Initiate Nala eyed me for help.

_We're in the streets. Keep your weapons ready. We might hit trouble any minute now._

The men turned and peered out the viewports. Silence fell in the Rhino's compartment, except for the muffled moaning coming from Adin. I divided my time between the frontal view and watching the Initiates operate. They were skilled, more skilled than most medicae I had seen. And so young.

They had stopped the blood flow with prayer and a host of medical aid. But the loss had been severe, and now they were pumping him with fluids and nutrients to make up for everything that had gone out of him. I counted at least three variants of blood-replacements and vita-cures. It was a regular old cocktail of health.

"What are his chances?"

Initiate Nala looked up for the briefest moment. She attempted an encouraging smile, but it failed miserably. "He'll live, at least."

"He didn't need that arm anyways." I paused and gestured to Anton. "Keep the torch off the wall. I don't want that flopping around in here."

As if to emphasize my point the Rhino bucked onto one side. Everything in the compartment slid and shifted. The Initiates braced the sled with all the strength they could muster, but that left their supplies free to spill across the floor. The Phantines and Justicars cursed and held onto the rails, but they too had loose gear scatter across the compartment.

"Driver?"

"The streets are in poor condition. Be prepared for more rough terrain. Secure any loose gear."

The following scramble to recover gear and stow it in place left any sort of verbal command unintelligible. My gear was already locked into place, so I helped the Initiates recover their supplies. They muttered their thanks, taking only as much time as they needed before returning to work on Adin. His condition had all but stabilized. Stabbing him with a sedative, they secured the straps tighter and sat back against the sides.

I leaned forward to check their straps, on habit, tugging on the loose ends to ensure they had left no space. It was an instinctive move, something I had done hundreds of times before. Battlefield transports were some of the most turbulent vehicles I had ever ridden in. Worse than riding a Valkyrie in a flak field sometimes. But they weren't used to it. They shrank back as if my touch would infect them. One hissed between clenched teeth.

"Nothing personal" I assured her, giving her straps a firm tug. Her face wrinkled in irritation but she held her tongue. As soon as I looked away, her hands flew to the straps and she tugged and prodded, running her own assessment of the belt. Pretending not to notice, I cracked my neck and looked further down towards the Phantines. Sergeant Opryszko made a show of grumbling as he buckled in.

"These lubbers know nothing about turbulence. This shit isn't even a bounce in the hay." He and Anton shared a grimace. "What's that noise? Oh, that's the pitiful little engine on this boxcar."

The Sister Initiates bristled at his lack of regard for their sanctified transport. I tuned out the quibbling that followed and studied Adin. Whatever it was that had hit him, it had been precise and bloody efficient. They had it wrapped up so thoroughly the stump looked round, but even still, his blood had soaked through all the layers. Someone had retrieved his arm in the chaos of battle. I picked it up, part-horrified and part-curious. It had one of the cleanest cut lines I had ever seen. Even the bone stub was smooth as glass.

"That's something you don't see every day."

Initiate Nala took the arm from my hand and set it down beside Adin. The frown on her face didn't seem possible on one so young. "He is a strong man. I've never seen someone survive a wound such as this. It usually bleeds out within minutes."

"Do you have much experience with these?"

She shuddered. "Only recently. Those winged creatures have been hesitant to show themselves, but they were everywhere during the initial assault on the hospital. I had only imagined such terrors before. Bolter fire didn't even worry them. Only fire made them retreat."

"Yeah, they're not too fond of that. It's because fire cleanses, and all they are is chaos and corruptio."

"They are terrifying."

"Eh, maybe. Do you think that's a bad thing?"

"To be afraid?" Her eyes widened and she looked at her feet. "Sisters aren't afraid of the Enemy. We deliver the Emperor's divine justice to them, not fear them."

"That's not an answer. You can do both." I pointed to Adin's arm. "Adin and I fear them."

"But that's weakness."

"Only if it is uncontrolled." My hand dropped to my side. "Fear controlled is what keeps you alive. It's what makes you seek cover when the bullets start falling and it's what makes you fight until you can't stand. Weak men run away because of fear. Strong men fight to the death because of fear."

"That doesn't make-"

"What matters is _what_ you fear."

The other Initiates had turned and given me their attention. I ignored their stares and concentrated on Initiate Nala. The others could stand to learn something. Besides, they weren't going anywhere.

"_What_ I fear?" Confusion scrunched her face. "How do you mean?"

"Which do you fear more? Facing a demon, or failing in your service to the Emperor."

"I… I suppose failing the Emperor." She frowned. "But aren't those the same thing?"

"Not quite. You can fail the Emperor many ways." I tapped the butt of my hotshot. "There's only one way to face a demon. In battle. I don't want a demon to do a number on me. Faith, the last thing I want to do is go toe to toe with one of those things. But that's not my biggest fear."

"What is, then?"

"Becoming one of them."

They all flinched at the thought. I saw revulsion play across their faces.

"The thing that I fear, Initiate, is dropping my weapon, refusing to fight, and becoming infected by the Ruinous powers. I don't kid myself in thinking I am untouchable. I've seen better men than me become seduced and swayed with temptation. All it would take is one single slip, one mistake, and I could start down a road that leads to no redemption. It's bad enough that I'm a-" I caught myself and shut my mouth. They had no business knowing that I was a Blank. It wouldn't help the situation either. More than likely, it would increase the tension in the group. Blanks were rarely accepted by any Imperial powers.

"A what?"

"A grunt who fights on the front line" I finished. The words flowed smoothly, because they were true as well. "My entire life has been spent on battlefields, whether in the trenches of Cadia or the spire cities of Goliad or a dozen other worlds in conflict. The only peace I have known in life was time spent in warp transit. And that's hardly free of stress either. I have never known real peace from the threat of Ruinous Powers."

Her face paled. She was young, and this would have been her first time encountering this kind of enemy. She couldn't have been on planet for more than a year. And not all of that had been in combat, or even near combat. The idea of spending her entire life in combat, one way or another, boggled her mind.

"You have suffered much."

"Suffering is a matter of perspective." I shrugged her sympathy away. I didn't need it. "I'm not on a Death World, my gear is top of the line, and I've got veteran comrades with me. All things considered, I'm not doing too bad."

_Brace for impact!_

Something struck the side of the Rhino. The vehicle slid several feet to the side, ending all conversation as we held on for dear life to the straps. I twisted in the seat and grabbed the vox-link.

"What's that, driver?"

"Anti-vehicle weapon. Autocannon, perhaps. It should pose no" _wham_ "threat. Making full speed to clear the fire zone."

A rapid thumping echoed through the compartment as the sponson heavy bolter opened fire in reply. Muffled explosions from near misses filled the air. The incoming fire slowed as the heavy bolter silenced the gun. But then another opened up, and another. A sizzling whine splashed the metal hold of the Rhino and the wall beside Initiate Nala brightened in a moment of flash-heat. She flinched and scooted away, a silent shriek forming on her lips.

"What was that?"

I did not respond. Reaching out a cautious hand, I tapped the spot, still glowing from residual heat. That shot would have lanced straight through a Chimera and kept going. Damn, but Rhinos were tough. By all rights I should have been missing my legs below the knee.

"That… that was trouble." I pounded on the wall next to the vox-link. Snatching up the vox, I spoke as calmly as I could manage. "Scale of One to Ten, driver. What's our situation?"

The driver swore and the Rhino lurched suddenly to the side. "Just sit tight back there. We will make it out of here. The Emperor protects."

"Shit." I unbuckled and made my way to the back of the compartment. Sliding into the seat nearest the hatch, I gave the Phantines a thumbs up. "Be prepared to bail. One more solid hit from that-"

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAA A_

The whine was our only warning, a half-second before it struck. A thick line on the ceiling lit up like fire and oxygen-sucking heat poured into the compartment. The las shot pierced, just barely cutting through the Rhino's armor. But the overwhelming fury of the beam set one of the Initiate's hair on fire. She managed a weak cough before the others piled onto her, beating the flames out with their hands. It wasn't enough. The Initiate died even as they tried to put out the fire that melted her brain matter. Her body slumped in the seat and her head fell to her chest.

I watched the Initiates try to resuscitate her. They gasped out sanctioned curses and slapped at her face. One scrounged up a stimpack and jabbed it into the girl's throat. One by one, they stopped and stared in horror. The Initiate's face was twisted in grimace of such pain and suffering that it made them gag. The rotten stench of cooked flesh filled the compartment. An Initiate vomited.

"This isn't good." Opryszko called out. "I can stand getting shot at while in the sky. But being on the ground in a tin can blows." He turned towards the front. "Oy, driver! Let us out. I want to shoot back."

No reply came back. A terrible concussion threw us in the air as the Rhino was thrown back onto its back treads. Unsecured, I dropped against the hatch and grabbed for a hold of one of the seat rails. When the Rhino landed, slamming back onto its front treads, I was tossed up and slammed face-first into the ceiling.

"Shiny!" Opryszko was at my side in an instant. He helped me up and shoved me into a seat. "That's enough silliness from you, glory boy. We need you alive."

Adin's body stirred weakly, woken by the violence of the Rhino's fall. Initiate Nala undid her buckle and leaned over him, holding onto the sled for support as she checked his vitals. The paleness of her face faded into confusion. She looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"He's stable."

I dismissed the comment, more worried about the lascannon. She caught my attention by waving.

"Sergeant Kane, he's waking up."

"So?"

The whine was faint this time, and behind us. A miss.

"He shouldn't be waking up for another three hours."

"So, that's bad then."

"I don't know. His vitals are back to normal, and his readings are all fine. But he shouldn't have recovered this quickly. These wounds are half-psychic in nature."

I blinked once in recognition. Thankfully, she did not recognize the familiarity that crossed my face. Turning away, I shrugged and pretended to be surprised.

"What can I say? He's a tough bastard."

"But he-"

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAA A_

The Rhino ground to a halt. I braced against the seat and leapt to the front, using the stoppage momentum to hurl myself over Adin's sled. The vox link sparked as I tried to turn it on.

"Driver! Driver, what in Cadia is going on?"

No answer. Furious, I ripped a glove off and pressed my palm against the hatch between the compartments. It was warm, much warmer than it should have been. I sniffed along the seam. Seared metal. The driver was gone.

"Right then, time to jump ship."

I did not waste time attempting to think of an actionable plan. Gesturing to the Phantines, I barked out the order to bail. They threw the doors open and leapt out into the dim alley without a second's hesitation. The Initiates took longer. They gaped at me in confusion.

"What is… is he dead?"

"This Rhino's run its last, ma'am. Now get yourselves out of here before we take another hit. We're sitting ducks here, they won't miss again."

They looked to each other for support. Growling in frustration, I grabbed Adin's sled and started shoving. The other followed half-heartedly, flinching as they ducked out of the Rhino and entered a street filled with gunfire and explosions.

"Emperor blast" I cursed. Opryszko and Anton had taken cover in a burnt-out storefront to the right. Guiding the sled inside, I returned out to provide cover and half-drag the Initiates inside. We had driven straight into the middle of an open battle between street gangs. The ones in front of us were the best armed, sporting numerous heavy weapons peeking out from windows and doors that spat death and destruction. A host of other small arms supported the big guns, creating a cacophony of sounds that only a battlefield veteran could appreciate. I counted dozens of different weapons, from las rifles to stubbers. This gang, whoever they were, seemed well organized. They must have raided one of the District Armories for all of their gear.

Their opponents, on the same level as us, were suffering the worst of it. Hundreds of figures scurried about in the rubble and shadows, some carrying weapons, some unarmed. Most were unarmed. But they seemed singularly devoted to the assault. When one man died another took his place. Here and there a smart man or group of them utilized simple tactics to rush a position and overwhelm the defenders. Even as we watched, one man who had crawled through the bodies of his comrades leapt to his feet and tossed a grenade into a cluster of men armed with Justicar shotguns and power mauls. His body disappeared in a geyser of blood as multiple weapons tore him apart, but the grenade wiped out the body of men, creating a gap through which his comrades rushed to gain entrance to one of the buildings.

There a man armed with a stolen las rifle and a makeshift scope tried to suppress a heavy bolter. He placed several shots in the window, wounding the loader, but then a rocket streaked out and destroyed his cover. I watched his shattered body tumble down the debris and slide into a growing pile of bodies. Another man snatched up his rifle and charged his way up the slope, taking his place amid the ruins of his cover.

The scale of the battle reminded me of a full-on campaign. This wasn't a clash of dozens of men. This was on the scale of battalions at war. And one of these sides had to belong to Shechem. I prayed his were the men in the ruins.

"Problem." Opryszko announced. He set his shotgun against the sill of the window and sat down. I joined him and took a deep breath. I guessed what he was about to say.

"What now?"

"Yes, but where in Sky is the other Rhino?"

"I don't know. Driver never said anything about the." I leaned over the sill and stared down the road. The Rhino was not in sight in either direction. "Ah, hell. And just when I thought things couldn't get any… better?"

Our Rhino had been on the periphery of the battle, no doubt mistaken for a bunch of criminals taking a joyride in a pillaged vehicle. But now that it was down we had a ragged crowd coming our way, creeping from cover to cover to avoid the hail of death from the buildings. Small arms brandished menacingly as they approached. They saw us, but they did not seem hostile just yet. I took no comfort in that. Curiosity would turn to violence in a breath once they figured out who we were.

"Prepare to defend this position." I pointed to the Initiates. "Find us a back way out of here. We won't survive a standup fight."

They voiced their assent and set off towards the back of the storefront. I grabbed a handle on the sled and dragged it to the back, away from the windows. Adin groaned and shifted, eyes fluttering weakly.

"Leon."

"Not now" I snapped. "Sit tight and rest. We'll fight the war without you."

"Screw…that." He tried to sit up, coughing furiously as he did. Spit dribbled out of the corners of his mouth. For a moment he twitched, stub of his shoulder moving as he tried to reach for something. His mouth twisted in confusion. "What the- where the hells is my arm?"

"You dropped it, idiot. Now lie down."

I shoved him on the chest and watched him flop on his back. He struggled to rise, but his motions were weak and sluggish. The drugs still had a hold on him. Reaching across his body, I grabbed one of the belts and strapped him in. He cursed and tried to unbuckle himself, but it was under his good arm so he could not reach it.

"Shiny, need you back here." Opryszko drew my attention. "They're close enough to spit at. What do you think?"

I rushed to the door and leaned out. The mob had descended on the Rhino and was crawling over it like worker ants on a dropped fruit. Two were dragging out the dead Initiate, a third waving her las pistol in triumph. I raised the hot shot and took aim.

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAA A_

A las beam cut through the air and sliced into the Rhino. It split plate and opened the fuel tanks before the men could realize their folly. The resulting inferno engulfed half of them, obliterating their flesh and throwing their bones high in the air. Even more were set on fire as flaming promethium soaked through their clothes. Human torches stumbled about, flopping around in agony.

"Well" I sighed. "There goes our ride."

"Don't worry about it. The view sucked." Opryszko took the opportunity to scan the remaining men. They were all dazed by the explosion, but instinct was kicking in. Even as weapons fire began to concentrate on their sector, the defenders taking aim at the bodies highlighted by the Rhino's fire. Rounds began falling around them, kicking up dirt and sending bodies sprawling to the roadside. The survivors scrambled for shelter, and several headed straight for the storefront.

Opryszko collared the first intruder as he dove through the window. Spinning him around in a full body swing, he slammed the man face first into the wall and let him collapse senseless on the ground. Anton did likewise with the next, except he hurtled the person into a counter.

"Take one alive" he shouted.

I was on the same page. Only one of the few thought to use the door. My boot hooked on his skinny ankle and he pitched forward, barking in surprise. I grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. The shout was still fading from his lips when I drove my knee into his back and pressed the barrel of the hand cannon against his skull.

"Don't resist, or I swear by the Emperor I will stick your head in those flames."

The man froze, winded. His right arm was pinned above his head, and a Guard tattoo showed above his wrist. I did not recognize the unit or style.

"Who are you?"

"Eji Melone" the man gasped. "First generation prisoner."

"What's your crime?"

"Shot a commissar." The man muscled a wad of saliva and spat on the floor. "You're with the Sisters, aren't you?"

"I'm asking the questions."

Dragging the man forward, I checked the rest of the storefront. Opryszko and Anton had corralled the remaining men and women inside, keeping them pinned against the wall and out of the line of fire. Their weapons were primed and ready to lay waste to them all, just in case. A handful of weapons lay on the floor, cast aside in their surrender.

"What lot are you with" I called out. Shoving the man away, I motioned for him to join the others. The man pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off, wincing slightly as he felt his shoulder. His eyes gleamed intelligently as he looked us over.

"You're a damn well-armed lot, aren't you? Not locals, that's for sure."

I fired a shot into the floor at his feet. He didn't flinch, but he did shut his mouth and draw back.

"Who. Are. You."

"Eji Melone" the man repeated. His back straightened and he adopted a familiarly stiff pose. "Formerly a platoon commander in the Uthreme Devildogs."

"Platoon commander?" I scoffed. "Looks like you got a little lost."

"Some of these are my men" he replied, gesturing at the others behind him. Six held out their hands to show the tattoos on their wrists. "Our entire company was sent here."

"That's impressive. What did you do?"

"We refused a suicide mission." The man's face hardened. "Some slug of a Lord General ordered our unit to probe an Ork battle line for no other reason than to see fireworks. I pointed out that we could flank the position and annihilate them with minimal casualties. But the orders were to charge straight up the center."

"So you shot the Commissar."

"And then took the position by flank. We lost five men and wiped out a small company's worth of the ork scum."

"And got your entire unit sent to a hive prison." I shook my head. "You're a miserable bastard."

"At least they survived."

Opryszko made a noise of disgust in his throat. "What, were you too chicken to die?"

The former Guardsmen growled in anger. I discouraged any rash action by pointing the hand cannon at them. They shrank back from that.

A nearby explosion shook the building. Eji Melone glanced outside and blanched. It wasn't a look of fear. It was the look of a man realizing he was facing a losing battle, and that his men were dying. But there was a hardness there, too. A desperate hardness.

"Look, sir, whoever you are. It isn't safe here. You are with the Sisters, you must be. We might be criminals, but we still honor the God-Emperor. On my word, we will not attack you."

"The word of a man on a hive prison…"

He glared at Opryszko. "If you don't trust us, then kill us now. We can help you."

The door towards the back opened. The Initiates hurried in, las pistols drawn but aimed at the floor. They hesitated on seeing the throng of men lined against the wall. Then Initiate Nala looked to me and back to the men. Her face lit up in recognition.

"Lieutenant Melone, you're alive."

The men were staring at the Sisters in surprise. Eji Melone looked away, I thought he was blushing.

"Aye, ma'am. It's good to see you made it out alive."

"And you, sir. You" she strode forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "They are friendly. On our honor, they helped defend us from the prisoners who attacked the hospital."

I shot her a quizzical glance, but there was a firm conviction in her eyes. Lowering my weapon, I shrugged and touched my finger to my forehead in a salute. "If it suits you."

She smiled in thanks and approached Eji Melone. "We will tend to your wounded, sir."

"Later, ma'am. We need to get out of here first." Eji Melone gestured to his men. "Find us a safe way back to the hospice." Three of his men nodded and rushed out the back. He waved for me to join him. "I swear on my life, you will come to no harm. I fear our side is losing against Shechem's men. The battle might push back this way."

My finger never left the trigger.

"After you, _Lieutenant_."


	11. Walk in the Park

We marched through the streets in double files. Their weapons swept the windows; Ours were trained firmly on their backs. None of them walked behind us. Anton dragged Adin's sled, melta slung on his shoulder so he could fire it if he needed to. My hot shot hummed softly as I fiddled with the firing selector. Semi to auto. Semi to auto. Semi to-

"You're going to break that" Opryszko quipped. He nodded towards the men. "Calm down a little, shiny."

"We are three blocks away from an open battlefield. Our escort is a band of traitor Guard and we have no backup. Damn it, we don't even have Munzi with us."

"Sure, but look on the bright side." He switched to vox-channel so that only I could see. Raising his shotgun, he flicked on a targeting laser. The tiny dot of red danced across the backs of the Sister Initiates. "We've got a hell of a view."

"Only helps so much" I admitted. A flicker of movement in an upper window caught my eye. A head ducked away, but too slowly to escape my notice. I resisted the reflex to raise my hot shot. Best let the bugger assume he had gotten away with a peek. If he came up again though, I would be ready. My gaze turned forwards, and I searched for a good cover spot where I could slip away from the main group without drawing attention.

"You saw him too" Opryszko whispered. He casually clacked the slide on his shotgun. The Guardsman nearest him started in surprise, and half-turned to assure himself we were not about to hose them down. Opryszko met the man's gaze and stared him down. The man turned back and kept walking, body stiff with unease.

"Bogey's not so shifty as he thinks he is."

The head reappeared, veiled by a translucent curtain over another window. I marked the location, gauging the windows to decide whether or not they belonged to the same room. Probably. The building had no odd corners or indents to it. A plain apartment-hab with grey walls and no character. Three windows to an apartment, probably. I wondered if my hot shot would punch straight through those walls. The hive was smaller here. The building heights had dropped away quickly, with many reaching only a hundred stories as opposed to the multi-hundred story offices of the central Districts. The structures would be weaker here, less sturdy.

I prayed that we wouldn't get into a firefight here. There was too little solid cover. Even an ordinary las rifle could chip through the walls after only a few shots. It would be a running gunfight. That kind of chaos out here would spell disaster.

Without raising my voice I summoned Initiate Nala back to my side. She hurried back, her face relaxed and her las pistol had been holstered. I stared at it for a moment, waiting until she reluctantly drew.

"What is it" she asked. Confidence had returned to her, and she bore the pride of her Sisterhood better than she had in the hospital itself.

"Don't get too comfortable with this lot" I warned. Exasperation stole across her face.

"You need to trust them, Guardsman. They are solid, loyal men. Their faith has not wavered despite their exile here."

"Ah, is that it then? Well, I should ignore the fact that murdered comrades in arms then. Because that is not at all something that men infected with the Ruinous Powers would do."

"They had reason" she hissed, lowering her voice so that the men would not hear the argument. "Watch your tongue. Just because you are a member of the Inquisitorial Ordos does not mean everyone around you is a heretic."

"Daemon" I said. She hesitated.

"What?"

"Ordo Malleus, not Ordo Hereticus. Heretics don't matter to me as much as the spawn that are created by them. You should know, Sister. All it takes is a little step."

"Don't you believe in redemption then?" She rubbed her temples as if tired. "That no man can be restored?"

"It's not a matter of can."

A second head appeared in a different window. This one was smaller, leaner. Almost like a child's head. It was not nearly as skittish as the first, and stared openly without fear of being seen. No one showed up to pull it away.

"Then what is it?"

She tore my attention away. Writing off the people in the building as non-hostile, I relaxed and eased my finger off the trigger.

"When a man repents under the Ecclesiarch, he is tortured and beaten until he recants." I grimaced. "That's not true repentance. That is a man trying to escape more pain. Real repentance comes in sacrifice. The man that dives on a grenade, or attacks a Traitor Marine with nothing but a lasgun and a combat knife… those are the penitent. When they have no reason to do His will, yet they choose so anyway. Those are the men that find repentance. Not the mutilated, flagellant scum that require constant oversight by the priests."

"That's bold, for a Guardsman walking alongside a Sister."

"When you've seen the shit I've seen, I couldn't give less of a damn." Indignation swept across her face, but she buried it and merely nodded her head. Eji Melone stopped the group, calling us forward. I left the Phantines in the back. We caught up with him in the cover of a burnt-out waste crawler. He was hunched down and speaking with one of his men in low tones. Seeing us approach, he gestured for us to get down.

"What's the problem" I asked, automatically scouring the road ahead. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Then again, we weren't exactly in an ordinary place.

"The road is different" he said. "We went through here two days ago, and those barricades weren't there." He pointed to a thin line of waist-high barriers pulled haphazardly across the road. "We had them strung out on the right side. That's where Shechem's men were coming from. If they've been moved, then this area has been overrun."

"Well then," I let my impatience flow freely. "What's the new plan?"

"My man didn't see anyone on active duty, so we might be able to sneak through. If not" He shook his head. "My mean only have a few weapons. We wouldn't be able to fight our way through this. But with your men we'd stand a chance."

"How thick is this area with his men?" I tapped the magazine on my hot shot. "We only have so much ammunition to go around, and that battle we left looks like you are playing trench warfare out here."

"I can't imagine him pulling more than fifty men this far. Figure a few killed in the takeover. One or two sent back to confirm they took the position. Maybe a few more sent out to scout the layout. Thirty men here, tops."

"Oh good, and here I was afraid we would be facing a full platoon."

He flinched at the heavy sarcasm in my voice. His posture straightened and he fixed me with a steady glare. "We do what we can, sir. Shechem's men are more organized, better armed, and juiced-up psychotics. It's a hard fight to win."

Something held back the scathing rebuke that I wanted to voice about faith and odds. Instead I found myself nodding along with him. Hell, he couldn't help it. His situation was so royally screwed that we even had a term for it back on Cadia. The Forlorn Hope. It was named after some kind of ancient custom, back when humans were savages. Poor fools that were sent in at the forefront of siege assaults. Maybe one out of a twenty would survive to the end of the battle.

And those odds did not make these men despair. I took a quick look around at his men. To a soul, they showed courage and alertness on their faces. These were not broken men. These men still wore pride and determination as if equipped with the Emperor's finest. One caught me watching and nodded his head. His right eye was a dried and cracked scab, like he had lost it to a burn. But he folded his hands in sign of the Aquila anyway. He had an antique las pistol strapped to his hip. That was it. No armor, not even a decent weapon to call his own.

"Right then." I ordered the one-eyed man to go back and fetch the Phantines. "We'll attempt a quiet breach. If that doesn't work, then we'll punch through and run like hell. Phantines, take the front. I will lead the rear. Put the Sisters in the middle. And, I'm warning you." I flicked the hot shot to auto. "If a single one of them doesn't make it, you'll wish they had executed you back in the Guard."

He didn't blink. Drawing his piece, a battered snub revolver, he thumped his chest and motioned for his men to take positions. They spread out across the road in covered positions, using vehicles and other wreckage for support. I pulled Nala and Eji Melone alongside me, intent on keeping them both close. Nala because I could trust her. Eji Melone because I couldn't.

Sergeant Opryszko and Anton took the lead, darting forward in a bounding over-watch. They reached the intersection and spent a minute examining the terrain before deciding it was safe to cross. Anton went first, ending his sprint with a slide into a crater on the far side. Opryazko followed, the hollow thumping of his boots on the road echoing in the quiet. I shuddered despite myself. That kind of noise carried, and any goons in the buildings around might hear it.

They signaled the all clear and I led the next dash. Fifteen bodies crossed without so much as a whisper from the blocks. The armed men did not pause as they spread out in a familiar out-facing firing pattern. Eji Melone called the rest, the unarmed ones, over then. Following quickly, they scuttled for whatever cover they could find.

"All across" one reported. Eji Melone had the man come in and join them.

"Scouting party" he ordered, speaking with the crispness of an officer on a common front. "Three men, at least one armed. That diner was the guardhouse. Go see what happened."

The man saluted, called out two men, and started off in the direction of the diner. They moved carefully, darting from cover to cover. I wondered if they had been scouts; they moved like experts. On reaching the front of the diner the men ducked inside and began searching. I pressed harder against the overturned dumpster I was behind and continued scanning the buildings. I chanced a look back at the figures across the way. They were gone now. Perhaps they had been sent away in fear of coming battle. Maybe they knew there would be a battle.

"Warp take them" I grumbled. Too many unknowns. There were too many elements to this area that we didn't know. A quick estimate placed us in view of a hundred windows. If any of them held snipers, we would be in trouble. Three men, sufficiently spread out, could rip us to pieces.

"What's wrong?" Eji Melone glanced over. "You see something?"

"No, I just don't like the situation. We're sitting Whites."

"Whites?"

"Conscripts." I spat on the ground. "We need to get off the street."

"If the diner is clear, we'll have access to the underground route to safety. We just have to see if-"

The diner exploded. Flames rolled out as far as the street, bathing the whole intersection in a hellish gleam. A deep earthquake-type shockewave shattered glass, wood, bones and everything brittle. The loose cover shifted and slid away, flattening the men behind them. My feet were bounced off the ground and I slammed back to the ground, stunned.

When I tried to pick myself off the ground my legs wobbled and I stumbled back on all fours. Eji Melone was dead beside me, the left side of his head taken off by shrapnel. Blood squirted out of the arteries along his spine in a little fountain. Initiate Nala was lying unconscious a few feet away, hurtled like a doll by the explosion. She shifted weakly and moved her head to look at me. Blood dripped freely from her lips.

"Report" I shouted. I didn't know who would respond, or if anyone would respond. My vision still blurred as I staggered back behind the dumpster, hot shot clutched tight to my chest. A Sister Initiate slid around the corner, her face coated in soot and dust. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and leaned in close. Her voice was ragged, and her throat bruised.

"Bomb in the diner" she gasped. Her head bobbed back and forth as I tried to concentrate on her face.

Reaching out tentatively, I placed my hand on her shoulder on the second try and made to stand up. She helped me rise and leaned me against the dumpster so I could take an estimate of the damage. Men were down all over the street, some dead and some dying. Opryszko and Anton had been all the way across the street and had avoided the worst of the blast. Anton sprinted across the road to my position.

"What was that? A booby trap?"

"Worse." Anton unslung his melta and gestured. "You're not going to believe it."

"Spit it out, damn it." I thought I saw motion past the diner. Lifting my hot shot, I leaned it against the dumpster edge and tried to steady my arms. They were heavy as lead and I was still hardly responding. I had been shell-shocked before, but this one took the cake. That must have been an ordinance-type bomb.

"That wasn't a booby trap" Anton said with a shake of his head. He pointed in the direction I was aiming. Squinting along the barrel, I managed to sharpen my eyesight. Caterpillar tracks, moving on the side-street, big as a one-story building. The ground shook from the power and weight of the machine tearing through the streets. I felt my stomach grow cold and taut. I had seen something that large before. That was more than a tank.

Sponson weapons opened fire, flooding the street with bolter shells. Two men disintegrated as they scrambled for better cover. Chunks of steaming meat sprayed around like confetti. The rest reached cover and dropped to the ground, squirming like worms to protect themselves. I dropped down to a knee and curled my fingers into a fist. My ears hurt from the thunderous staccato of bolter fire.

"What on the Emperor's Throne is that? Is that a heavy?"

The behemoth rumbled forward. Its right treads smashed through the corner of the diner. I leaned out and took stock of the situation under the cover of the smoke. The tank had ground to a halt half into the street. Its back half was still hidden under the building, but I saw enough to recognize the make. The vehicle began to turn, rotating on its treads in our direction. A thick, wide-mouthed siege mortar sprouted out of the frontal armor plates.

"Baneblade! Get down!"


	12. Heavy Metal

There are not many things that can motivate a man to incredible deeds. I had seen a lone grunt face off against a Traitor Marine and come out at a draw; three Leman Russ tanks had once held off an entire battalion-size element of Orks alongside my position on Kantus; a team of Whiteshields had carried me a mile through no-man's land while under artillery fire, all of us wounded. Adrenaline and desperation are two wonderful things, when the stars align just right. Single men can win wars through those bouts of insanity.

Or they can run like hell, and escape the worst dangers.

That was the decision we came to. The siege mortar fired, releasing its rocket-assisted shell with an almost comical _whump_. Grabbing the nearest living being, I threw her to the ground and rolled on top of her. The shell shrieked overhead, tearing through the air with a ripping sound that turned my stomach. I had seen those shells before. It would pulp us all even if it missed. Whispering a prayer, I closed my eyes to protect against the flash and waited to die.

The Emperor must have smiled at that moment, all the way on far-off Terra. Maybe he had remembered a dirty joke, or thought about one of the millions of enemies he had killed in some gruesomely hilarious way. Whatever it was, he decided to throw us a line and prolong our miserable lives a moment longer.

The shell carried on overhead, kept off the ground by the automatic targeting on the rocket boosters. It soared into the building behind us and kept going. I lost sight of its path, but when it finally went off, we had a whole skyscraper between us and it. The thunder-clap impact shattered what little intact glass remained in the structure, and we had to curl up to avoid getting shredded by the falling shards. They pattered against my armor like rain, making sure I understood just how narrowly we had avoided a fast and painless obliteration. At least one piece found a joint in my armor plates and stabbed into my back. The pain hardly mattered; Staying alive had a stronger grasp on my priorities.

"Move! Move! Move!"

Yanking the Sister Initiate to her feet, I started for the nearest side of the road. She staggered after me, limping and bleeding freely down her leg. Her tough leather pants had not stood up against the hail of glass. Despite that she didn't complain or whine. She screamed through clenched teeth, but she did not slow down.

A rush of others passed us by, diving for cover as the Baneblade's sponson weapons resumed firing. Bolter fire cut in front of us, pounding holes through the walls and furniture in the apartment lobby ahead. I pressed through it, carefully following the stream of explosive shells without catching up to it. The idiots weren't firing in bursts. They just held the trigger down and let their aim go wild. Better that than a cool hand on the trigger.

"Wait" the Initiate gasped, pressed her hand against my shoulder to steady herself. I stopped on reflex, eyes darting to the ground to search for a mine. She pulled on my shoulder and we dropped behind a rusted and gutted car. The thing was so ancient and abandoned that barely the skeleton remained, but it hid us from view. Besides, it looked like a sturdy thing, maybe it could stop a few bolter shells.

"What is it?"

"We forgot your friend." She pointed a shaky hand back to the street. Adin's sled sat there in partial cover. The men who had been pushing it were both dead, splayed out from the explosion and ravaged by the glass. I cursed and gauged the distance. Twenty meters there, twenty back. Thirty seconds, if I was lucky. Ten there, ten adjusting the sled, ten back. Adjusted for the Baneblade's attention of course.

I snuck a glance at the Baneblade. My terror at the behemoth faded slightly when I saw just how bad a shape it was in. There was no turret on the superheavy. Its armor was rusty and dented and all the color had faded into a bleak grey. The Demolisher siege mortar and the sponsons were the only functional weapons on it, or at least I hoped so. The nasty barrel of a heavy flamer jutted out beside the mortar, but it remained dark and still. One of the tracks had been thrown too, and it maneuvered awkwardly as it worked off of only one side's propulsion. It was hardly battle ready. It didn't need to be.

"Frag it, I'll get him. You stay down."

"No." She grabbed my arm. "I will distract it. Get him to safety."

"Are you daft?"

The sponson-bolter nearest us began tracking our way. We huddled down to hide, and it passed over us, strafing the street with blind murder.

"If they spot you, you will be crossed and diced. I will buy you the time to get him out."

"Have you got a death wish?"

"No." Her face cleared, and she eyed me with one of the coolest, collected expressions I had seen since we landed. "But he will die without our aid. That is why we are here, to save the loyal where we can. My duty calls."

"Well then" I took a deep breath. Handing her my hot shot, I touched my forehead in salute. "The Emperor Protects."

"And smiles upon His children."

I did not look back. The thumping of the bolters rang in my ears and chips of pavement showered around me. I saw a tracer cut less than an arm's length from my face. The brilliant light threw stars in my eyes. My boots crunched and slid on the loose, broken pavement, but I slogged on. My hot shot fired behind me, engaging the bolters and drawing them off of me. Dull as the gunners were, they knew that a man shooting at them was a more dangerous threat than a running man.

Sliding into cover, I pushed Adin's sled further out of the Baneblade's sight and checked his vitals. He was out again, but his heart was racing. What limited experience I had told me that he was in a trance state. He knew exactly what was going on, but he couldn't wake up. Thumping him once on the chest, I offered a coarse joke about him laying on his ass and made sure the straps were secure.

"Naptime's over, jerk."

The sled moved at a painfully slow pace. One of the boosters had busted, and with only three remaining it had shifted direction to ensure stability, but lost its speed. Pushing took effort, and I found myself leaning forward and kicking my heels to get it moving. The boosters groaned and whined against the unfamiliar balance. I did not look around. I stared straight at the ground, calculating my progress by how much pavement passed by. The constant bolter fire made it feel like I was crawling across the road. We were sitting ducks to the Baneblade. Had the gunners been even half-assed good, they would have chewed us up and spit us out like a meat grinder.

The Sister Initiate dashed forward to join me. Grabbing one of the handles, she tugged with all her strength. Together we shoved the sled behind the vehicle wreck and dropped to the ground. Micro-explosions rained around us as the Baneblade gunners tried to splatter us. One of the men in the apartment lobby tried to wave us over, but a stray round from the bolters pulped his head and his corpse stumbled backwards out of sight.

"Do you see the Phantines?"

"No." She rolled onto her knees and braced my hot shot against a window frame. She used the scope to scan the area, searching for any sign of the others. "There. On the other side. They're huddled down with Nala and Marjorie."

I dropped to my stomach and crawled out until I could see around the wreck. The Phantines had dug into the cover like ticks; I only saw their boots. Drawing the autopistol, I took aim far past them and squeezed off a three-shot burst. The boots jerked, and Opryszko leaned forward to return fire. Seeing me, he held off and flashed a thumbs up.

I pointed towards the Baneblade and mimed a grenade. The Phantine sergeant shook his head. As if to emphasize his point, the Demolisher mortar fired again. The shell whistled past, shaking the street so badly my teeth chattered. My eyes picked the warhead out as it hurtled down the street. The Baneblade gunners must have tried to remove the rocket boosters, because the shell fell much faster. Props for trying, but they had not removed the time-delay either. There was a reason Demolisher mortars had rocket boosters and time-delayed charges. Those shells had an absurdly large blast radius. A round fallen short could destroy not only the enemy but the tank itself.

Thankfully, the shell did not activate when it clunked against the street pavement. I watched in disbelief as the mortar round bounced and scraped for a good fifty meters. The Sister Initiate and I exchanged an oh-shit look.

"Down!"

The time-delay ran out. A brilliant nova of flame flooded the air, spilling out in all directions as if it were a rolling wave from hell. The sound wave struck us like a hammer, slamming us into the wreck. The autopistol flew out of my hand and disappeared further down the street.

Smoke enveloped us. Black, dusty chalk filled our eyes and mouths. I found the sled and pulled myself to my feet. Knowing the direction of the lobby, I stared pushing. The smoke blanket was a blessing. The Baneblade had no idea where we were. The bolters had stopped firing, finally realizing that they couldn't hope to hit us without knowing of we were in cover or moving.

The Sister Initiate appeared at my side, hand grabbing mine for support as she staggered blindly for safety. We trudged forward, praying to the Emperor that the smoke would hold until we got out of the street.

It didn't. The smoke cleared, fading into wisps of inky air. We were still a half-dozen steps from the lobby doors. Shooting the Baneblade a glance, I saw one of the sponson-bolters jerking towards us. I snarled and shoved with all my strength, sending the sled into the lobby even as two men rushed out to help guide it in. The Sister Initiate followed on a backpedal, landing a precise, slow fire on the driver hatches of the Baneblade. The bolter returned fire.

She didn't cry out, she didn't even scream. Her right leg vanished in a blossoming shower of blood. The only noise that passed through her lips was a grunt, and she fell against the sled. Somehow she retained hold on the hot shot and continued returning shot for shot. Hooking my arm around her shoulder, I dragged her inside the lobby and out of the line of fire. She hissed and spat for breath, face draining of color. Her eyes bulged when she finally looked down at her leg.

"Tourniquet" she growled. Her pupils dilated rapidly as shock set in. Forcing her onto her back, I pulled her stump of a leg up into the air and started fishing in my kit for something to use. One of the other men joined me, cradling her head and pressing her down to prevent her from moving.

"Why doesn't it hurt" she asked. Her words slurred and her jaw moved as if in slow motion, fighting to form coherent words. I saw the fear dawn in her eyes as her brain finally comprehended that she had been hit. "Why doesn't it-"

"Stow it" I ordered, barking out the command. She was slipping into that hazy half-unconscious state. If she did, she might not come back. "Ma'am, I want you to look at me and don't shut your eyes. Keep them open, that's an order."

My grasping fingers found something thin and rubbery. Crowing to myself in triumph, I pulled the piece out and gave it a once-over. It was a leftover band from a laspack. Not perfect, but a decent substitute in a pinch. I always kept one on me for this exact purpose.

The walls and floor shook as the Demolisher fired again. The explosion went off somewhere overhead, and I threw myself over the Sister Initiate to protect her from the splinters and debris that rained down on us. She moaned weakly, face blanching from the sight of her lifeblood spurting out of her leg.

"Soldier, tie this off now!"

The man set to work on her leg while I cleaned off her face and took it in both hands. Her skin had gone white as light, even her lips. Her eyes flickered weakly against my thumbs as I forced them open. She let out a near-silent groan.

"Stay awake, damnit." I slapped her in the face. A girlish squeal passed from her lips, but her head began to droop. Snarling in frustration, I groped blindly for my emergency med pouch. I had to take my hands off of her and lay her on the ground to pry it open. Fumbling out a syringe of stims, I flicked it once and jabbed it straight into her neck.

A dry, rattling breath wheezed out of her throat. Her head fell back limply, eyes wide and mouth open. For five long seconds she did not move, not even a breath. The man holding her leg up swallowed hard. He quailed when I looked at him, face twisted with such anger that it hurt me. Letting her stump fall to the ground, he backed away and returned to the others, preferring to try and find a way out than to face me down.

"Wake up" I hissed, slapping her face again and again. She didn't respond, not this time. Grinding out a curse, I felt her throat in the faint hope that there would be a pulse. My fingers came back sticky with blood. "The frack?"

I followed the trail down to her chest. The wound had been hidden by her flowing robe before. Pulling the bloody fabric carefully out of the way, I took in the damage that had cost her life. An unexploded bolter shell had punched through her lightly-armored clothes and buried itself in the space between her breasts. Three ribs on either side had cracked and been torn inwards. Her spine had been broken as well. That she had lived long enough for me to lay her on the ground was a miracle. She hadn't stood a chance.

"Sergeant, we need to move."

One of the men retreated from the windows and grabbed my shoulder. I smacked his hand away with hardly a second thought. Tearing my gaze away from the fallen Sister Initiate, I took in the room, how many had survived, and the overwhelming booms of the storm bolters.

"Cease fire! Retreat from the windows."

The men did so reluctantly, stumbling and dragging their dead with them. I crossed the Sister Initiate's arms over her chest and whispered a quiet prayer. Touching my hands in the sign of the Aquila, I saluted her and rose to my feet. Her left hand still grasped my hot shot.

"We wait for them to turn away" I ordered. "I will take care of the superheavy. You, men, be prepared to police the dead and recover what you can. I want two of you on the sled and two carrying this Sister's body. Do you understand?"

They replied with muted enthusiasm. One fished out a grenade and offered it. I shook my head. "I've got my own." My hot shot had her blood on its grip. I wiped it off as best I could and gave her one last look. "_The Emperor guide you to His side._"

The Baneblade crew had stopped firing in our direction. Either they suspected us dead, had run out of ammunition, or finally gave up on trying to hit us. It did not matter, really. Shouldering my hot shot, I took off out of the doorway and sprinted for the tank.

Baneblades were truly impressive specimens. Their patterns dated back as far as the times when the Emperor yet walked and smote his enemies face to face. A single Baneblade was worth an entire regiment of regular Guardsmen. The many weapons systems, the thick hull plating, and the powerful engines made such vehicles a devastating force on any battlefield. But this was not one of those Baneblades. This one had seen many years, perhaps thousands of years, of neglect. Its armor was dull and rusted, its weapons coughed and smoked from unfamiliar usage. The machine spirit of the vehicle must have been in terrible condition, puttering out the remainder of its existence without the slightest hint of care or nurturing. The sight of such a proud vehicle brought to such low and vile ends made my blood burn even hotter.

In their quest to find an easier target the Baneblade had rounded on the Phantines. Still pinned down in the street, they were dug in behind whatever cover they could find. It was a blessing from the Emperor that the Baneblade couldn't move. That or the machine spirit was doing its best to have at least some dignity in death. I wished we had the opportunity to recover the tank and return it to its former glory. It was a shame to see such a thing rot and die.

I reached the Baneblade without drawing any attention. The near bolter had fallen silent, smoke pouring out of the gaps around the gun hatch. The barrels glowed too-red for a safe firing. Rushing past the weapon, I hurried to the rear and checked for a ladder up. I had fought alongside a fully functional Baneblade before. They had access ladders on the back for the crew. This one's was damaged, missing half of its rungs, but still usable. Clambering up, I stayed low so as to avoid alerting the men inside. They had built a makeshift barrier around the now open-topped turret area. It provided minimal protection from serious fire, but the important part was that it limited their field of view. Checking my harness for a grenade, I debated whether or not I wanted to waste one on them.

Then I saw the fuel cans attached to the hold. They were small, single person cans, not more than 20 gallons in each. I crawled over to one and pushed it lightly, getting a feel for how full it was. The petrol sloshed at a pleasantly high level. Plucking it from its clips, I unscrewed the cap and sniffed. Perfectly fresh, probably from a looted Arbites garrison.

The crew started in surprise as petrol splashed down on them. For a stupefied second they turned and stared up at me. I spread the petrol out with abandon, making sure to soak each one of them in the few seconds of peace that I had. One got a good mouthful and bent over gagging.

"Got a match?"

One went for his sidearm. I tossed the can in and leapt back, presenting him with just the tip of my head in view. Too stupid to realize his mistake, the man cocked his pistol and pulled the trigger.

Petrol and lasers don't mix. Any halfwit farmer could tell you that. This man must have belonged to something truly special then. The charging hum of the pistol had just reached my ears when the crew compartment exploded in a fiery inferno. The men couldn't even scream. Their bodies were consumed in seconds, melting to ash in the span of time it took me to leap off of the behemoth and land on my feet. The flaring heat scorched my face, threatening to blister my skin as I turned away and covered up. A pillar of flame thirty feet high soared out, marking the Baneblade's final resting place for everyone in the District to see. The cruel soldier inside of me hoped that the owner of the vehicle, Shechem, was watching. His most powerful asset, up in flames.

The men came pouring out of the lobby, leaping to their assigned tasks with admirable efficiency. Apart from the four carrying sled and body, the others searched their comrades and went about their work with only a slight show of slowing down. I allowed them what time they spared. These men were their brothers-in-arms. The least I could do was give them a minute to mourn.

Sergeant Opryszko made his way through the now-choking cloud of smoke billowing out from the ruined tank. He grimaced as he gazed about at the carnage. Twenty or more dead. "We need to move."

"Yeah." I raised my voice to be heard by everyone. "Two minutes, double columns. I want us cleared out of here before any reinforcements arrive."

The two remaining Sister Initiates staggered out from cover, supporting Anton. He had a hefty amount of bandages wrapped around his calf. Initiate Nala peeled away and approached me cautiously, digging through her kit for more supplies. I waved her away.

"It's not mine" I muttered. "Tend to your Sister. She didn't make it."

Nala covered her mouth in time to muffle her gasp. She rushed past me to see, and I didn't stop and watch. Picking my way into the storefront that had been first hit, I stopped and listened for the sounds of any who might have survived. The men who Eji had sent in had been torn to shreds, both by the blast itself and the shrapnel tossed by the explosion. I nudged one body with the toe of my boot. The man's torso had more holes in it than an Ork after a firing line.

"That Baneblade's a fricking beacon" I grumbled. Opryszko shrugged beside me.

"I think that bastard popping off Demolisher shells was beacon enough. Hell, that might have done us a favor. Any man in his right mind would have written us off as dead."

"We should've been." I gave the smoking Baneblade a sorrowful look. "What do we do with the Sister?"

"The dead one?" Opryszko pointed to Anton. The man had sat down on a pile of rubble and was nursing his injured leg. His meltagun lay against his leg. "That'd do it."

"It would" I agreed. "But I can't see them agreeing to it."

"Well, it's that or abandon her here. We can't take her along with us; she'll slow us down." He patted me on the shoulder. "I'll order it."

I nodded mutely. He stomped back to the others and I remained in the storefront. I heard raised, urgent voices. Initiate Nala shouted, shrieked, and then the _shuush_ of the melta filled the street. The Sisters screamed and a scuffle started. By the time I turned around they had been restrained and were glaring at Opryszko and Anton. Neither of the Phantine soldiers appeared pleased.

"Let's go" I barked, drawing everyone's attention. Initiate Nala slowly turned her gaze to me. There was hurt, anger, confusion swirling in her eyes. I did not blame her. How could a young girl be expected to handle all this?

"More will be coming" I continued. Pointing to one of the survivors of Eji's men, I beckoned him forward. "You, lead the way."


	13. Court in Session

Author's Note:

Sorry that it takes so long to get these published. I have a very short attention span when it comes to writing so if I don't knock these out quickly it takes forever to get back to them and get them done. That being said, REVIEWS remind me about the story and keep me focused. MORE REVIEWS means faster publishing of new chapters. Thank you for the reviews so far. It's been encouraging to see how people like the story.

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><p>We trudged through the muck of the alleys, marveling at the sheer amount of filth that had accumulated over time. The stench was by far the worst part. Rust and rot wafted around our heads and clung to our bodies. Grime sucked at our boots, slowing us down to a mere walk. We had taken the detour to stay off the main roads. It had sounded like a good idea at the time. Now I regretted it. Not a peep had been heard from the road, and our lack of mobility made us easy targets for anyone with a rifle and a clip.<p>

It was quiet so far. That would not last. It never did. I sent two of Melone's men forward to scout the way and spot out potential ambushes. They set off without complaint, hopping back and forth as they powered their way through to the end of the alley. I watched them go, eyes darting to the windows to see if a gun barrel appeared to ruin their day.

"Problem?"

Adin leaned against the wall, body heaving slightly as he fought for breath. He was recovering quickly, but he had lost so much blood it would be a while before he was back to his old self. His hand rubbed around the stump of his shoulder, not touching the wound but fidgeting near it. That would also take getting used to. I shook my head and started following the two scouts.

"You're doing well for yourself."

"I had a good doctor." He nodded back towards the surviving Sister Initiates. They caught me looking and glared, faces drawn and angry. They were still taking it hard. Opryszko and Anton had wisely placed themselves to the rear, both to cover our rear and to distance themselves from the furious Sisters.

"This show had better end soon" I grumbled. "Times like this make me reminisce about the lovely trench wars we had on Cadia."

"What, and miss out on this fun?" Adin's shoulder twitched upwards. "Damn, I don't like these stims. I'd rather feel the pain than nothing at all."

"You say that now…"

The scouts reached the end of the alley and motioned the all-clear. We jogged forward, forcing our boots out of the grime, and joined them up front. The street ahead was overshadowed by balconies of all shapes and sizes. The sun was high in the sky, but the ground belonged to the dark. I scoped down the road in both directions, searching for heat signatures. Faint traces showed south of our position. A small group, perhaps squad-sized. Probably a patrol. I spent a moment studying the trace, estimating how long it had been since they had passed by. Very recently. We were safe to cross unless they had decided to double back.

Adin and the Phantines crossed first. Half of our allies moved next, followed by the Sisters, than the rest. I crossed last, sweeping the street in case another patrol was approaching. All was quiet. That was good.

We continued on for another three blocks, repeating the leapfrog pattern to cross. The farther we went, the more signs of patrols and checkpoints we saw. It was very unorganized, but the heavy presence made us cautious. Our advance became more cautious, and we took longer at each street crossing. At one point our team was cut in half as a patrol sauntered by. The convicts were bored, and they showed it in how slowly they shuffled down the road. I had been worried that we would have to engage them and dash away when a couple fell out to relieve themselves. Thankfully they did not pay much attention to their surroundings and moved on without spotting us as we pressed to the shadows.

The battle lines were far behind us now. It was clear that Shechem's men had punched through, no doubt led by the now-wrecked Baneblade, and overwhelmed the area. Particularly wrecked buildings pointed to signs of defensive battles lost. Most of the bodies had been removed from the streets, but the signs of battle had not been thoroughly cleaned. The streets stank of blood and smoke. We found where some of the bodies had been taken; Shechem's men had turned an alleyway into a body dumping ground. Crawling over the bodies had unnerved more than a few of our party.

Adin could not keep up the pace very long. The loss of his arm and the resulting shock and medication left him bone-tired and weak. He had given his long las over to one of the Sisters early on, leaving only his laspistol to defend himself. Even that took visible effort to draw and aim. I kept my eye on him as we progressed. His armor had a limited self-injecting medical supply. If it was not already used up then it was getting close to done. The Sisters would need to sit him down soon and check up on him.

Opryszko called a halt when we reached an open square. The party stayed in the alley while he and I took cover behind a chest-high wall. It was more of a courtyard than a public square. On the right stood a tall, colorless building with barred windows. To the left, some sort of housing hab that was rotted and falling away from hundreds of years of neglect. No doors from that hab faced the courtyard, but holes had been broken through at the ground floor for passage. It was similar for the far side. No doors, no exits. Just holes. And all of them were broken into the buildings, not into the courtyard. I looked back down the alley. The rusted frame of a fence stood at the mouth of the alleyway. The coils had been rolled back and torn down. It had been closed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Opryszko chuckled. "We're in a penitentiary courtyard."

"Go figure." I shook my head. "Well, this wasn't always a prison planet. It had to start somewhere."

"Reckon there's some ghosts hanging out in there?"

"Don't get me thinking that way." I shuddered. Even with my Blank nature, warp shadows and the like were things of nightmares. "That only leads to trouble."

"Don't worry, things look quiet."

We motioned for the party to advance. Taking an extra man each, Opryszko and I started along opposite sides of the courtyard. Our guns swept the few windows facing in and the exits. The penitentiary had three reinforced doors at the ground level. All were shut and, I tested the first one, locked. They were powered doors, requiring more than a man to open. Secure in that knowledge, I turned away and looked across the courtyard.

Someone towards the rear of the party called out urgently. They spilled out of the alley and into the courtyard, crouching behind the wall and looking back towards the road. One rushed over to me.

"Patrol stopped at the end of the alley. There's about a dozen of them."

"Are they coming down?"

"I don't know. Not yet. But they might have seen one or two of us."

"Emperor's teeth." I growled and motioned for Opryszko to go to the wall. We retreated into the center of the courtyard and took up precautionary defensive positions. Those that were unarmed and the Sister Initiates kept to the edges, staying out of the line of fire. I could see the patrol. A few were moving down the alley, weapons down and posture casual. They were not hunting, they were wandering. That was neither good nor bad, but I did not like it either way.

"Down" I whispered. The command carried across and we hid under the protection of the wall. With luck they would go back to the road without spotting them. Once the patrol moved on, they could get on with figuring out where to go from here. This might be a dead end, in which case they would have to backtrack. Or they could potentially move through the buildings to find a new route.

We began to hear the boots sucking in the mud. The patrol was smoking and joking. Voices grew louder, despite being soft to begin with. I counted in my head as they drew nearer. Five men in the alley. More farther back. Damn it, why couldn't they make up their mind. All down the alley or none. A split up team was harder to take down.

Opryszko grabbed my attention. Flipping a grenade in his hands, he mimed pulling the pin and throwing it. I shook my head. We would avoid this unless we absolutely had to.

A boot broke free of the squelching mud and clopped on solid ground. He was out of the alley. The man couldn't be more than a few feet away. My finger brushed the safety. Luck wasn't on our side today. It never was. A short chopping hand motion warned the others to get ready.

"I'd reckon that boom was a building going down" one of them said. "He must have set the tank on a raid."

"Oh… that tank. Wish I could get a ride on that sometime. Didja here it's got a cannon that can flatten a whole city block?"

"Rubbish." The first one could be clearly heard. I could hear him breathing. He was that close. "Nothing has a weapon that powerful. That's magic-level power."

"Magic's rubbish. I 'eard someone talking about _Him_. Say he can do things with his mind. Says he can… 'ey who are you?"

I rolled out from the wall and onto my back. Bringing the hot shot up, I sighted on the second man. He was looking down the wall, slackjawed in confusion at the sight of a Sister Initiate curled up against the wall. His eyes flickered my way as I pulled the trigger.

Three of them died in the first second. A dozen weapons discharged and they dropped like flies. The fourth and fifth man had time to fire a few hasty shots before they were cut down as well. We manned the wall and sighted down the alley, trying to pick out silhouettes at the far end. The men on the road had fallen out of the light, either run off or hiding around the corner.

"That's torn it" Opryszko snarled. "Come on then, let's be off. You hold the alley. We'll find a way out one of these buildings."

"Got it."

He took Anton and a couple of the men. Picking the building opposite the alley, he charged into one of the openings and disappeared. Most went with him. The Sisters and a handful of gunners stayed in the courtyard. Adin did too, though that was more because he was in no position to waste effort in case they had to double back.

The remainder of the patrol showed little interest in rushing down to find out what had happened to their buddies. I couldn't make anything out because of the distance; they weren't keen on stepping out into the light either. Bloody unaccommodating of them. If they had a lick of sense, at least one of them was running for the nearest outpost. I wondered how many men could be mustered in the area. Surely there weren't too many men back here in reserve.

I looked over to the Sisters. "Long las, now!"

Initiate Nala scurried over and handed it to me. I slung my hot shot and took aim with Adin's rifle. Peeking heads leapt out at me as I dialed in the zoom. Killing them from that far away would have been easy. Motioning with my left hand, I waved the shooters down. Taking potshots at them wouldn't get us anywhere. We could pick off a few, but it would be better to try and sucker them into the alley. Put them in a shooting gallery.

"Keep your heads down" I ordered. The men shifted and grumbled, eyes casting about nervously. They didn't like it, I didn't like it. On instinct I put two men guarding our flank. There was still that side-building. Someone might be in there.

"Give me your rifle" Nala said. I spared a glance just to tell her no. "Please. I want to help."

"I don't want you wasting the ammunition."

She screamed under her breath and ripped the autopistol out of my harness. Slipping down onto her knees, she whispered a quick prayer and held the weapon in a two-handed firing stance. Her face was white and her hands trembled.

And despite everything, I found myself growing calm. The enemy was at arm's length, we were cut off from Inquisitor Lord Verne and the rest of his retinue, and we had no idea where in the hive we were exactly. The situation couldn't have been any more fracked up. Damn adrenaline.

"Here we go" I muttered. A few brave souls had started creeping down the alley, clinging to dumpsters and crates and anything that could provide cover. Problem was, there wasn't much and most of it was fairly low to the ground. "Conserve ammo. Let me take care of most of them. If they charge, clean them up. If they run, save it."

Halfway down the alley they stopped and clustered together. Their mouths moved rapidly as they gestured and pointed down towards us. We were low enough that they could not see us well. One stared directly at me, eyes blinking comically slowly through the scope. I gave the trigger a smooth pull.

By the time his body hit the ground I had put two more bolts in the air. Another man fell dead. That sorted out the men's courage. They turned tail and ran, leaving a third man dying in the mud as I chased them back to the road. Some men at the road returned fire, but their aim was terrible and I only ducked down for cover after all of the men had disappeared.

"That should hold them off for a bit."

"We need to get out of here."

Adin crawled over and looked out at the alley. Moving suddenly, he clambered over and bent down to pick up a fallen autogun. It was a shoddy piece, the kind of junk a Guardsman wouldn't have picked up if his life depended on it. Adin locked it into his shoulder and checked the sights. He stood there one-armed, weapon swaying slightly. For a moment he almost looked strong enough to get back in the fight. Then he sighed and sat down against the wall. I helped pull him over.

"Don't waste your energy" I chided. "Rest up. We'll need you later."

"Rest is for the weak."

I shook my head. "Yeah, you're right. Let's check out the side building. Need a hand getting up?"

"Frack you."

I cracked a smile. "Hey, I'm not making fun of you. You saved my life, and I'd shake your hand for-"

"You're a dick!"

Some of the others were smiling. I kept going, knowing that even a touch of morale would do wonders for the party. Adin could take it.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop. I've gotta hand it to you, you're a tough nut."

"I hope you take a bolter round in the brainpan." Adin fumbled to get his helmet off. It took effort one-handed, but he managed. A very gruff sulking frown greeted me when he looked up. "In all seriousness, this situation is wild. Have we heard anything from Lord Ver- here they come!"

The men were making a half-hearted rush down the alley. They had picked up a dumpster-siding as a shield and were advancing behind it. Someone in the back fired over our heads in an effort to keep us down. I shared a look with Adin and we grinned.

"Switching back" I announced. The long las leaned against the wall and I drew the hot shot. Their feet were hidden by the mud and gunk and bodies in the alley. The rest of their bodies remained safely behind the dumpster siding. Or so they thought. I fired a round straight at the center of the siding. The scarlet beam punched straight through like the siding was made of paper. Adin fired a shot too; his physical projectile deflected off.

"Okay, not so good with lasers." I handed the long las to Adin. He used his shoulder and the wall to brace it in a moderately-stable firing position. "Conserve your shots. Let me take care of most of them.

The assault had stalled momentarily with their discovery of the ease with which the laser passed through. I put two more shots through the makeshift shield, felling another man, and we saw hints of movement as the men threw themselves to the side of the alley. The shield fell to the ground, its carrier sprawled on top of it. The others buried into the mud and began returning fire. We ducked down for cover, cursing as a hail of fire peppered the wall.

"They're still stuck out there" Adin said. He slid his helmet back on and looked out. A slug bounced off of his helmet and he rolled back under the wall's lip. "But they've got range."

"You don't say."

The fire lulled and I jumped up. One man went still before I ducked back down.

"This is bad. They can hit the length of the courtyard from there. We need to clear them out before we can move out."

"That doesn't sound too hard. Flankers on the mouth of the alley. Take turns popping out and we can whittle them down."

"Yeah, that'll work." I called out the order down the line. A man got up on each side and hurried to the alley. They remained out of sight, readying their weapons for the moment to jump out. "Wait for us to draw fire. Adin?"

"Just give me a target."

We rose and fired. I was startled when the autopistol opened up beside me, Initiate Nala taking her stand as well. The three of us put enough fire down the alley to send men squirming for cover. When they began firing back the men at the alley leaned out and fired. They killed at least one man and hit two more.

And then shit hit the fan.

A crowd of armed men appeared at the road. They were not well-organized and not uniformly armed, but there were a lot of them and they were charging. One of the men at the mouth of the alley went down with a round through his knee. Gunfire erupted suddenly on our flank; the side-building had visitors. We scrambled for better cover as slugs started kicking into the dirt and pavement around us. Sweet Emperor, someone was in a window up above.

"Cover! Cover!"

Everyone retreated into the protection of the walls. Firing discipline among the convicts disintegrated as men shot at the alley mob, at the side building, and at windows above. I kept aim on the alley, slowing the advancing men down as best I could. These ones did not hesitate when their comrades fell. The ones already in the alley rose up and joined them, making their way forward as quickly as the mud allowed with ferocious shouts. Waste of energy, but it made their point.

"Follow the Phantines. Into the building."

"Not a good idea right now!"

Even more gunfire rose up behind us. I risked a glance back and saw the Phantines pouring out of the building, firing desperately. They spilled out into the courtyard and hurled themselves behind the wall. More bad guys followed them.

"Ah shit. Here we go boys!"

The rush hit us from all three sides. Our outgoing fire gave them heavy casualties, but there were so many of them it didn't matter. The first man to leap at the wall caught a hot shot round in the face. The next screamed in pain as I jammed the red hot barrel into his throat. Then everything degenerated into pure chaos.

Swinging the hot shot like a club, I held the spot on the wall for a good five seconds. Two more men went down before the press knocked me back. Dropping the rifle, I drew the stub revolver and started unloading into any face that presented itself. The revolver clicked empty and I used it as a club. When the grip broke on someone's shoulder I dropped it and went for my knife.

It was hopeless. The tide was endless and we were overwhelmed. Sheer numbers brought us to the ground. A rifle butt sent me reeling and before I could recover there was an elbow pinned to my throat and a knife pressing against a gap in my shoulder plates. A heavily bearded, scowling face thrust itself in front of me.

"Don't ev'n breath" the man growled. Even if I had wanted to struggle, at least three more men held me down. There was no choice. I nodded curtly, eyes still watering from the rifle strike, and concentrated on trying to hear what was going on. The hubbub of scuffle had died down. Many voices were yelling. It didn't take a genius to realize our side had been subdued.

"Line 'm up" someone shouted. "Let's get'ta look at their faces."

Two men dragged me up to my knees. They shoved me forward along with the others, creating a ragged line of ten survivors. Adin and I, the two Sister Initiates, the two Phantine soldiers, and four of the convict-allies. A pitiful, pathetic band. I spent a moment searching the ground to see who had fallen. Only our allies. Either these baddies had meant to take us alive or we were blessed by the Emperor.

"Well, well, well" the speaker said. He was a tall and heavily built man, clad in a tattered and mud-splattered commissar robe. Multiple holes ventilated the suit, making it clear that this man was not the original owner. He did have a bionic eye though, and his scar-ridden face was twisted in what might be a permanent sneer. A Justicar power maul dangled from its hook on his belt. He strode across our line, making a show of inspecting each and every one of us. He lingered more on the soldiers than the Sisters. I took that as a sign that he had more competence than testosterone.

He halted in front of Adin. Adin's helmet had been ripped off, and he glared up at the speaker with a face full of hate. It was a show. I could see the tension clear on his face as he fought to hold in the pain from his wound.

"You're a fighter" the man mused. "Lost that arm here, did you? How long ago was that?"

"I don't know" Adin grunted. "Whenever I lasted shagged your mother."

The man chuckled softly, eyes full of menace. "You will do." He looked up to the mob. "Take him."

Three men pounced on him. They picked him up and carried him to the side, where they unceremoniously dumped him on the ground. I snuck a look at Adin and met his eyes. Adin cracked a bitter smile. His teeth were clamped so tightly shut he was in danger of breaking a tooth.

"And you."

I looked back. The speaker stood in front of me, examining my armor with interest. "What a delightful bunch we have here. You and the armless joker, what are you?"

"My father told me not to talk to strangers" I quipped. This time the man's laughter was not contained. He gave a good belly laugh and slapped my shoulder. The power in his hand almost knocked me on my side.

"Oh this is rich. I haven't had such entertaining company in months, and we've only been here for five minutes. Okay then, mister Daddy's boy. My name's Bojock. I'm the psyker's Lieutenant of the Guard."

"Sergeant Kane." I filed his information away for later use. Giving a slight pause, I gauged the crowd around us. They were all excited because they had the upper hand. But these men were largely cowards and bullies. A single shock would set them reeling. I took a deep breath and collected my voice.

"Cadian 8th."

Some of the men gasped in horror. Murmurs rippled through the mob and they shuffled about uncertainly. Bojock took the news with more grace. He blinked twice, holding his tongue as the information registered. Then, whipping his power maul from his belt, he flicked it onto full power and swung down at the wall. The maul shattered a chunk of wall with an explosive crack, silencing the courtyard. The mob fell into quiet, more terrified of Bojock and his power maul than the threat of one of the most famed Imperial Guard regiments.

"Cadian 8th, you say?" Bojock sniffed derisively. "That ain't likely. We'd know if the planet was being invaded."

"I didn't say we were invading."

"No, you didn't." Bojock leaned down. He put his mouth close to my ear and whispered in a gruff voice that only I could hear. His breath stank of cheap whiskey. "You don't have to. We know about the Inquisitor, bodyguard. You and your _Phantines_ and the _Sisters_ and the other freaks in his retinue had no chance here. Should have let bygones be bygones. Now it's too late for all of ya."

A chill settled on my spine. When Bojock took a step back there was nothing but smugness on his face. Did they have Lord Verne? Had they taken his team out? Is that why we hadn't seen them since? And where had Munzi's damned Rhino gone? The Sister's second Rhino, the one loaded with Sisters and Justicars and our techie had just skedaddled when we took the las cannon fire. Damn cowards had probably gone headfirst into an ambush and been wiped out.

"Take those five as well." Bojock eyed our convict-allies with disinterest. "Kill those ones, but make it clean."

The men started in horror. None of them begged though. They were shoved face first into the ground and executed with shots to the head. It was very clean, very professional, both on the executed and the executioners. Almost like they were normal Guardsmen on a normal battlefield.

We were shoved into a line and the column moved out to the road. Our hands were not bound, either they didn't have anything to tie us with or they didn't fear our trying to escape. Our gear and weapons were stripped and carried along as well. I could not help but feel slightly impressed that they did not fall over each other squabbling for the best gear. Everything was bundled up and carried a select few men who were then surrounded by armed guards. They walked in front of Bojock, where he could keep an eye on them. The closest thing to scavenging I saw was when Bojock rummaged through and picked out the autopistol from the collection. He slipped it into a previously empty holster and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

They took us a short distance down the road. At the first intersection we went left. The guards did not mind us speaking, so I retreated in the prisoner bunch to get to Opryszko's side. He greeted me with a sour look. His nose had been shattered and he walked with a limp courtesy of a bayonet wound in the thigh.

"The building?"

"Turns out it was a fracking barracks. We were halfway through when we ran into them. Anton leaned against a wall for a moment; it caved in and we found ourselves face to face with a chow hall full of the scum. There were easily a hundred of them."

"Bad luck" I muttered. "What do you think of the leader?"

"That Bojock man? He looks more like an ape." Opryszko shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. He's got us by the balls, and he knows it. Watch yourself, he's smarter than he looks."

"You have no idea" I said. "I think this is the end of the road."


	14. Guests-of-Honor

Author's Note (WARNING): This chapter and the next contain scenes of a pretty graphic nature. You have been warned.

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><p>Ironically, they took us around the block and back into the penitentiary. We were thrown into one large jail cell, the kind reserved normally for one-night ruffians on a loyalist world. Cage would be a better description, with strong bars and open on three sides. There was no chance of any privacy in the cage unless they were left alone. For the time being, Bojock did not seem interested in allowing that little mercy. He stood outside their cage watching them, hawkish eyes catching every little detail. One of the first things he had done on their arrival was to send a runner with the news of their capture.<p>

Then he settled into watching us. Watching and listening to anything they might say. He did not get much. We shut up on landing in the cell. Every one of us had some kind of wound, the Sisters less so because they had gone down with less of a fight. The Sisters tended to the wounds, concentrating primarily on Adin and Opryszko since they had the worst of it. I waited patiently, returning Bojock's stare with a guarded look. He locked eyes with me fairly often, mouth quirking in a knowing sneer. His body was well covered by the commissar robe, giving away nothing in the form of visible tattoos or marks. I wondered what had gotten him here. Bounty hunter, maybe. Killed the wrong target? Certainly not a Guardsman. He was far too large to fit in a Guard uniform.

It wasn't long before he had his fill of ogling and left. Two guards took his place, relaxing at a desk and flipping cards to pass the time. They did not pay us much attention; we had nothing to hide and they knew it. These two were well armed and armored, clad in full Justicar armor with las pistols and power mauls. Their discipline did not impress, but they gave us some space and I took full advantage of that.

"I've seen worse" I grumbled. Initiate Nala looked up at me questioningly.

"Worse?"

"Trust me." Adin raised his head and glanced from her to me. "Be thankful these aren't cultists."

Her eyes widened and she shivered. Returning to Opryszko's wound, she attacked the bandages with renewed fury. Anton gave an admiring grunt at their work.

"Wish we had a couple of you Sisters in every unit. You've got the touch of the Emperor in your healing."

They looked down modestly. I watched their reactions; such a statement could possibly be considered blasphemy by the stricter Ordos of their Sisterhood. The fire-breathing armored ones would have toasted him on the spot.

"Get comfortable" I ordered. "We'll be in here for a while."

Adin's helmet had been taken away, but it had been left on the guard's table. Most of our weapons had disappeared, but right now I was more interested in the helmet. Inside was the mid-range communicator. It hadn't been working so far, but if we could slip that from the helmet there was a chance we could contact Lord Verne. Or Munzi. We just had to find a way to get it.

Something had to be done. I had little hope that outside help would come. Lord Verne did not have an assault force. Even if he found them and came for them, he wouldn't have the firepower to push through and break them out. I thought back to the mob of men. At least a hundred in the barracks, probably another eighty from the street. Who knew how many more were being drawn into the sector to fill in the casualties, provide security, and sweep for more bands like theirs. There could easily be up to four hundred men. Four hundred against a single Valkyrie's load. The thought struck me as so absurd I cracked a grim smile.

"Got a plan, Shiny?"

Opryszko motioned for me to come closer. I sidled up beside him and slipped to a sitting position. He dismissed the worrying Sister Initiates with a wave of his hand.

"We're walking wounded" I grumbled. "Hardly capable of getting out of here."

"Walking wounded" Opryszko growled. He slapped his injured leg to prove a point. "We can tough this out."

"Adin doesn't have an arm and Anton's been walking on a ganked leg for the past day." I shook my head. "Haven't got a prayer. None of us are untouched. We're tired, we're wounded, we're unarmed."

"Bah, don't tell me you're giving up."

"Like hell." I waited until the guards weren't looking and pointed to Adin's helmet. Lowering my voice, we whispered. "There's a communicator in there. If we can snag it, we can try and figure something out."

"That's convenient." The Phantine sergeant gave a noncommittal grunt. "I'd prefer a las pistol or shotgun myself."

"Keep on, you dreamer."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Getting it quietly would be best."

Opryszko eyed the helmet. "Looks like that's not an option."

"Not right now at least. And if we take it by force, we'd need to explain the guards."

"So we wait."

"For now."

We went quiet for a while. Unspoken agreement settled into a sleep shift, with one person awake at all times to watch the guards and check on the wounded. Adin was slipping in and out of consciousness. The short fight in the courtyard had been too much for him, and his body hadn't been ready to handle the surging adrenaline. His good arm twitched in his sleep, fingers curling and tapping against the floor. I recognized that. Somewhere in the medical cocktails the Sisters had pumped him with flowed _Daturin_ extract. It was a hell of a drug, used to counteract the side effects of heavy doses of other medications. I had been dosed with it once. It gave freaky dreams.

Given the situation I felt surprisingly at ease. The guards did not worry me; they appeared professional enough. For now I wanted to sleep and catch my breath. There would be plenty of time in the future for worry and resistance.

The floor was slightly warm. That was enough for me.

The guards were different. When I sat up and rubbed the feeling back into my jaw I found the armored ones gone. In their place were three raggedly clad thugs with nasty scowls and dirty weapons. Two sat at the table dealing dice. The third wandered about the edges of the cage, glaring down at us. I noted the brands on his neck: serial killer, heretic.

He saw me staring and spat at me. I took my time looking away, letting him know I was not cowed. Turning slightly so I could not see him, I checked on Opryszko. He was awake.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Like a baby" Opryszko said. He smiled grimly. "How long were we out?"

"No idea. Looks like a new guard shift though."

"I noticed. They're not as pretty as the others ones."

The one at the bars growled under his breath. I waved dismissively at him. He straightened, eyes burning with hate, and stormed over to the table. The Phantine sergeant watched him go with a calm face.

"He could be trouble."

I agreed.

"Well" Opryszko stretched and leaned back against the wall. The others were asleep. "Looks like we have time to kill."

"That we do."

"So… about that Interrogator."

I shot him a curious look. Opryszko pretended to not notice.

"What about her?"

"You two a thing?"

"Seriously?" I looked back at the guards. "We're in a cell in the middle of a prison planet, probably abandoned and stuck her for the rest of our lives, and you want to talk about _her_?"

"Time to kill" Opryszko repeated. "I figure we'll have plenty of time to talk over the next few days. Might as well start somewhere."

"Emperor's blood. Fine. What do you want to know?"

"You shagging her?"

"Blast, no." I shuddered. It wasn't a foreign thought, but it still unsettled me to even consider it. "I'm not involved with her."

"Could have fooled me." He nudged me with his elbow. "She looked right ready to take you on that table in the Justicar headquarters."

I closed my eyes. I was trying to forget that.

"She's… alright, she's got a thing for me."

There was no gloating cry or exclamation. When I opened my eyes Opryszko was staring at me through half-closed eyelids. I wondered for a moment if he had fallen asleep again.

"So what's stopping you?" His eyes shot back open. "She's not the kind of girl a sober man would say no to."

"She's a kid."

"Huh?"

I slipped my ID tag off my neck and handed it to the sergeant. He took them gingerly, searching the High Gothic lettering in wonder. After a moment he handed it back.

"Can't read it. What's it say?"

"That I'm twice her age." I tucked my tag back around my neck. "How old would you guess she is?"

"Early thirties?"

"Twenty five… maybe. Even she doesn't know."

"That young?" Opryszko whistled. "She sure doesn't look it."

"Doesn't act it either. She's not all there." I tapped my head. "We're not quite sure what her early years were like, but she saw too much too young. Somewhere along the lines-" I hesitated. I knew exactly when it happened. "Somewhere along the lines she snapped. Broke her sanity like a twig. Hasn't been the same since, and she isn't the kind of girl you'd want to get involved with."

"What's her problem?"

"She's a barely functioning psychopath."

"Kinky."

I shook my head. "That girl has no concept of good and bad. For her it makes just as much sense to kill a family for a child's stolen bread as it does to give a beggar a drink of water. You don't want someone with that mindset going anywhere near you when you're unarmed."

"She can't be that bad."

The way my face twisted was all the response he needed. He cocked his head to the side and adopted a pensive look.

"So you have done her."

"It wasn't exactly voluntary."

"Now what the hell does that mean?"

Some of the others were waking up. I checked their faces, mainly their eyes, and saw nothing that concerned me. My voice lowered anyway, and I had to fight to keep my empty stomach settled.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Aw, don't tell me that the tough old stormie is scared of a little girl."

"Not scared. Terrified."

The sergeant's chipper tone faded. He glanced at the others and shut his mouth. "Really that bad?"

I was saved from answering when the doors opened and a new round of guards came in. These looked more like the current set rather than the half-polished soldiers that had been there at first. I wondered if that man Bojock had left with the well-equipped men. If Shechem was smart he would have them on the front lines, pushing for territory control. Then again, too many self-styled warlords made the mistake of holding back their best troops and keeping them as a flashy but utterly useless cadre of followers.

The new guards showed more interest in us. They crowded around the bars and hooted and hollered. They banged knives and truncheons against the bars as they paced, trying to elicit a response. No one paid attention. The Sisters went back to checking on Adin and Anton. Neither soldier appeared pleased with the situation, but they held their silence.

I wanted to ask how they were doing, but I also didn't want to give anything away to these thugs. These were simple brutes and bullies. Give them an inch and they'll try to take your whole arm. Better to wait them out and talk to the others after they finished their jabbering.

"Why so shy, blondie?"

Both of the Sisters were more or less blonde; one more platinum and the other a darker gold. I shifted one foot closer and braced for trouble. Opryszko did the same, cracking his knuckles against the floor. The men were not paying us much attention. They were ogling the Sisters in a far too familiar manner. The Sisters kept their composure, attending to Adin as an excuse to ignore the men. Their hands were shaking. They were nervous and scared.

"You don't have to stay in there, blondie. Come on out and we'll give you a nice warm welcome."

Initiate Nala glanced up at me. She pointedly tapped Adin's shoulder stump and offered a timid smile. "He is stable now."

"Of course he is." I snorted as if it were obvious. It was merely for show though, and to encourage the Sisters. "He's tougher than a Chimera."

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

An empty cup sailed through the bars and struck her on the shoulder. She leapt with fright, shocked by the unexpected strike. Curling up against the wall, she stared up at the men with saucer-wide eyes. I rose to my feet and strode over to her side. Placing myself between them, I crossed my arms in defiance.

The men stopped and glared at me, eyes full of rage. The thrower, a gangly man with ragged hair and stooped shoulders, ran his knife up and down the bar. The screech of the blade tickled my ears. Cute.

"You'd be smart to get out've the way."

I said nothing. He eyed the others for support. When they showed the same eagerness for trouble he jabbed the knife through the bars. I was in no danger; he remained safely out of arm's reach. After a few swings he brought the knife back and spat at my feet.

"Imperial dog! The psyker's got plans for you, he does. You're gonna wish you'd never been born."

Again, I refused to be goaded. The knife-wielder took a step back. His mouth twisted in an ugly grimace.

"Ah, but you're no fun. Fine then, 'ave your silence. You won't be silent for long. There's things coming your way. You ain't helping those birdies much. They'll get theirs."

"Eh, com'on and show us what ya made of." One of the other goons stuck his face against the bars and leered at me. "The boys say ya from the Cadian 8th. I fought 'long side them once. They was a bunch of cowards and pussies."

I took a slow breath, maintaining control of my emotions. It had been a long time since I had fought in the Cadian 8th, but it was ever a source of pride for me. There had been a time when his words would have started a brawl without a second thought. The years had mellowed that temper.

The ribbing went on, and on, until the guards finally tired of hearing their own voices. Retreating to the table, they occupied themselves with other things. I turned my back on them then and joined the others.

"I think they're sweet on you" Opryszko grunted. "All those flowery words and shit, you've got yourself a fan club."

"When we get out of here…" I cracked my knuckles together. Standing through the tirade of profanities and blasphemies had raised my temper to boiling, but I would be damned if I'd let them see it. "I'm going to kill them with my bare hands."

"Got a plan yet?"

"No." My frustration ground through my voice. "They're scum, but they aren't stupid. Not that stupid, at least. We'll have to find a way to draw them in and ambush them."

"For that we'd need bait." Opryszko glanced at the Sisters. I shook my head.

"No. We are not using them."

"I wasn't thinking it" he assured me. "But we might not have a choice in that. They're bait whether we use them or leave them. I can't imagine there are many females on-planet. Those girls are a precious commodity, and they're in real danger here."

"It's not going to happen." My blood boiled at the thought. "If those scum try coming in here for them-"

"We'll kill 'em all." The sergeant agreed. "But somehow I don't see us getting out of here."

"We won't get out of here." I gestured to the others. "I'm not leaving them behind. If now's my time though, I'm going down with blood on my hands."

"Amen to that."

Things went to hell at the end of the guard shift. Adin had completely stabilized and was recovering, but Anton's situation was rapidly getting worse. His leg wound had started to fester and, despite everything the Sister's tried, was rapidly getting worse. It was happening too quickly to be natural. Something had gotten into the wound, something native to the planet. The Sisters worked desperately to aid him, but without their kits they could not do much for him.

I wasn't paying attention. Opryszko and I had been taking turns studying the cell, searching for weak points or any features we could use to our advantage. When Initiate Nala approached the bars I was across the cell from her.

"Sirs."

She stood at the bars, eyeing the guards with as much courage as she could muster. The guards were out of their chairs in an instant, eyes going all up and down her body as they sauntered over.

"What is it, lovely?"

"This man is sick." She motioned to Anton. "I need my kit to heal him."

"Do ya now?" The Cadian-hater snickered. "Well, what'd be in it for us?"

"Please, he needs my help. He's-" she paused. Her expression changed as something occurred to her. "Your leader wants us alive. What do you think he would say if one of us died on your watch?"

They looked at each other, uncertainty rampant in their minds. Finally, the knife-wielder shook his head. He pointed at Anton and shrugged.

"He could stand to lose one or two. Besides, he doesn't look able to talk much. He's a corporal. Those don't know jack worth talking about."

"Please!" She grasped the bars. "Let me help him."

"Trade ya for it."

"What could we offer you?" She frowned. "We have nothing in here."

I saw the danger before they acted, but I was too far away. I was halfway across the cell, a warning springing to my lips, when the guards pounced on her. One grabbed her hand and yanked her forward. Her shriek ended abruptly, cut off by a knife pressed against her throat. The knife-wielder grabbed her by the hair in one hand and held the knife under her chin while the other two held her arms through the bars.

"Ah, but ya do have something" the Cadian-hater cackled. He produced a revolver and leveled it at me, stopping me in my tracks. "Back off, dog."

"Let her go" I snarled. Opryszko came to my side, still blinking away drowsiness from his nap. His face was unreadable, but the steely glint in his eyes told me he was spoiling to break a man's skull.

"Tough talk for a dog in a cage" he spat, returning my glare with one of his own. "Just sit tight there, we won't be a minute with her."

The knife-wielder forced her down to her knees, a wicked grin splitting his face. "That's it, blondie. Nice and easy. Nice an-"

The man with the pistol looked at her. His attention gone, I took the chance and dove forward. Opryszko was at my side, catching the man's arm through the cage and tugging him against the bars. I went for the gun. My fist shattered his wrist, eliciting a howl of pain. In the tumble of flailing limbs it went off. Someone screamed behind us.

Startled by the assault, the knife-wielder let go of the Sister. She lashed out on reflex, punching him square in the crotch. Something else happened that drew a very unmanly squeal, but I was busy wrestling the pistol away. Opryszko had the man by the throat and was punching as best he could throw the bars. The pistol went off several more times until it finally ran dry.

The third man rushed to his friend's aid. I broke the pistol man's arm at the elbow and shifted to meet the newcomer. There wasn't much he could do through the bars though. We exchanged punches, awkwardly thrown and doing little damage. The other Sister, Marjorie, was screaming behind me. I risked a look back and saw Anton writhing on the ground, his throat opened by a wild shot.

Then the door to the room was thrown open. A half-dozen armed men stormed inside, led by none other than Bojock himself. He took the situation in with a glance and bellowed out a command. Before I knew it we were staring down the barrels of appropriated Justicar shotguns. A power maul crackled and jabbed at my face. I let the man go and retreated, grabbing Initiate Nala as I went. He right hand was drenched in blood and she had a shocked look on her face. Something soft and squelchy was in her hand. Two of the guards were down and on the ground, the third stood back and raged at us from the safety of a man holding him back.

"You okay" I asked, holding the Sister by the shoulders. She looked down at her hand and her face turned a distinct shade of green. The bloody bag slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor with a plop. She sighed and slumped against me, fainted.

"What in the bloody hell is going on" Bojock thundered. He eyed the pistol in my hand and barked an order. Two men entered the cell. I handed it over without a fuss. The weapon was empty anyway. "Will someone care to explain to me? Please, I am all ears here."

"They attacked us" the unharmed guard shouted. He made a grand show of pushing against the men restraining him. "That bitch led it; she started it."

"Shut up." Bojock looked down at the other two. The knife-wielder was lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood. He had curled up in the fetal position, screaming and groaning as he fought to hold in the gushing blood. A careless kick put the man on his back, revealing the wound for all to see. I looked down at the bloody sac on the cell and grimaced. Oh.

"Damn but she's a scrapper" Opryszko muttered under his breath. "Too bad she took to Sisterhood. She'd have made a grand old trench fighter."

"Is that how it happened?" Bojock chuckled quietly. He looked up at the speaker and the humor vanished. "A Sister, barely a speck of a woman, just happened to draw you to the bars and savagely attacked you. And in the process she managed to strip this one's pants and rip his balls off. That track with any of you?"

The last comment was directed at his men. His gaze wandered, settling for a moment on the unconscious Sister as if he might actually consider it possible. Then he looked up at me and his expression hardened.

"These prisoners are a thousand times more valuable than your miserable hides" he cursed, kicking the downed men. "And now you've gone and killed one."

I looked over at Anton. Initiate Marjorie had his head cradled in her lap. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked up at me. His face was paper white, eyes closed, throat and chest slick with blood. Dead.

"So, what'd it go?" Bojock gestured to me. "What happened here?"

"Think real hard" I replied. "Think real, fracking hard."

Bojock sighed. It was a surprisingly quiet sound for one so large. Holding out his hand, he waited for one of his men to hand him a long-mag autopistol. He put a bullet through the head of each of the guards without so much as a blink. When the third one slumped to the ground he handed the pistol back. None of his guards flinched.

"Someone get these bodies out of here." Three of the men leapt to it, clearing the room in a brisk and utterly professional fashion. Bojock offered an apologetic shrug. "Shame. I'll make sure they don't bother you again."

"Fat lot of good that's done us" I growled.

"What were you expecting, a royal stay?" He showed no shame. "You're prisoners here and I have a damn lot more important things to do than babysit you. In two days you will be escorted to the psyker's headquarters. For now, twiddle your thumbs and enjoy what moments of peace you have. You're not going to like meeting the psyker."

"Can we at least get some food?"

He gave us a dead-eyed look. "They didn't give it to you? Warp take them, I'm dealing with children." He pointed to one of his men. "You, get them some grub. I swear, it's easier to kill the enemy than to guard them. You, get that body out of there as well, but don't lose him. I want that taken along with them."

The man went back into the cage and headed for Anton's body. Opryszko blocked the way.

"You aren't taking him anywhere."

"Sergeant." I stole his attention. He shot me a dirty look. "Let them take him."

"My soldier isn't leaving my sight."

"Sergeant!"

He stiffened and turned to face me. I motioned to the others. "It won't be good for the Sisters for him to stay."

The argument formed on his lips. It stayed there though, and his shoulders slumped. He stepped to the side and the man passed. Bojock watched it all in quiet approval.

"His body will be taken care of" he assured us. "I will leave a detachment of my own men to watch you for now. This will not happen again."

He left two of his men in the cell room as guards. They kept their distance from the bars, faces invisible behind their masks. I handed Initiate Nala over to her Sister and joined Opryszko. He had sat down by the blood stains and was staring at the mess. Initiate Marjorie had taken his dogtags, and he flipped those over in his fingers. I said nothing, I just sat beside him and waited.

"You said you lost your entire platoon" he said at last. His voice was quiet and empty. "I've lost men in combat before. Comes with the job. But… my entire squad. All of them, in less than a week."

"You don't know that. Lord Verne is still out there."

"Sure." Opryszko brought Anton's dogtags before his eyes. He slipped the tags around his neck, adding them to his own. "And the Emperor's coming to the rescue as well. We're on our own here, shiny. I hope you've made amends with your debts before this operation."

"I don't have debts."

The words rang hollow in the quiet cell. Initiate Marjorie called my attention and pointed me to Adin. He had been awake through it all, but too drugged and tired to move. His body trembled with helpless rage.

"Adin."

"Hell of a time to lose my arm" he grunted. "Not worth a lick in this state."

"Don't say that. There was nothing we could have done."

"Never thought you'd take being prisoner so calmly."

"Right now" I shrugged. "We're just staying alive. Baby steps, Adin."

"Frack that, we're Kasrkin." He grabbed my arm and pulled himself to a standing position. "We should be killing our way out of here. You hear that, shitstains?" He pointed to the guards. One took a step forward, hand fondling the butt of his pistol. The other shook his head and said something via the headset. Growling a curse, the man returned to his post.

"Easy there. Save your strength."

Adin retreated to the wall and eased himself down. A dour look came over his face and he turned to the Sisters. Initiate Nala was waking. Her face had regained its color and Initiate Marjorie did not appear overly concerned over her. I stood over them and waited for her to recover. When her eyes opened she groaned and raised herself to a sitting position.

"Did good, ma'am." I took her blood-covered hand and began wiping it clean. She flinched from my touch, but let me work. "How are you feeling?"

"Did I…" she started to pale again as she stared at the blood. "Oh Emperor, I-"

"Defended yourself, like a good girl. Would have made your Sisters proud."

"What about… where's Anton?"

Opryszko patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about him, lass. Take a deep breath and try to relax."

"Relax? How can I relax?" She looked past us and pointed a trembling hand. "Why is there so much blood out there?"

"Hey!"

She flinched and looked up at me. I put all of my effort into forcing a smile.

"Calm. Down. What's done is done. Food is coming."

She took a deep breath and nodded. Pressing close to her Sister, she tucked her knees up to her chin. Her lips moved but no sound came out. I glanced at Initiate Marjorie.

"A prayer" she explained. Then she joined in. I shook my head and backed away, leaving them to their worship.

"Shiny." Opryszko nudged my elbow.

"Yeah?"

"You ever been in the shit this bad?"

"No." My hands clenched tightly into fists. The guard helmets reflected back at us, silent and uninterested. One had a shotgun, the other an autogun. I thought I recognized the crest over their chests. It was the same one the Justicars in 4th District wore. "No, I haven't."


	15. Abandon Hope

**Author's Warning: There are adult themes in this chapter.**

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><p>Bojock's guards were the closest thing to professional I expected to find among the criminal scum mucking about on this forsaken planet. It was hard to tell, but it looked like Bojock had left five. They rotated in and out of the cell two at a time, always maintaining distance from the cell and never engaging us in conversation. When we had requested they considered them; more often they allowed it. We did not ask for much. They delivered food only when we requested, and we did not ask often. They also allowed us to be taken out of the room and next door for privacy when we needed to cleanse ourselves. That last part took a hell of a lot of trust, but I allowed it after the lead guard of the team came in and personally promised their safety.<p>

It was the only time they spoke to us.

There were no windows to the outside world in the cell. That only bothered me a little; Kasrkin had an uncanny sense of time. Even when we slept it kept up with us. I didn't know for sure, but I would have bet my life that it was part of the genetic enhancements we received during our time in the Schola Progenium. They did all kinds of things to us to make us better soldiers. Some of it was genetic, some was psychic. It took months and generated more pain than being roasted alive.

The point was that I knew it was just past Cadian Dawn when the first Sister died.

There was nothing unusual about it. Initiate Nala approached the cell door with her hands out and requested the use of the privy. The guard with the autogun trained his weapon on us and the one with the power maul unlocked the door. They had nothing to worry about. We remained on the far wall. It was better to avoid risking a guard getting twitchy and lighting up one of us. There were precious few of us left as it was.

She let him cuff her hands and guide her to the door. The autogunner opened the door with one hand and they passed through. It was the only time we were alone with one guard. One guard with an autogun, standing on the far side of the room. They left nothing to chance. These men were disciplined, whether that was because of Bojock or their former lives I did not know. This one even cleaned his rifle.

"Adin, how're you doing?" I nudged him to make sure he was awake. The Sisters had no more medical supplies, so he was soldiering through the pain. It was intense though, and he had passed out once before.

"Can't wait to get a blade in my hands." He scowled. "Useless as a sniper now, but if I could get a hold of a blade I can still do some damage."

"Enough of that, Adin." I shook my head. "I know you're good to go. Don't waste your breath talking about it though. If anything, we need to find a way to lull these guys into security."

"Yeah." He sighed and rubbed at the bandages over his shoulder. It was no longer bleeding and the skin healed remarkably quickly from the faith paper and biofoam. Still, I swatted his hand away.

"Stop touching that. You'll only make it worse."

"Tis but a flesh wound." He cracked a grim smile. "It itches. What do you expect me to do?"

"So you're telling me you can take a bolt shot in your gut without flinching, but a measly little tickle's got you beat? Hell, don't tell the traitors that. They'll start attacking us with feathers."

"As if."

Opryszko knelt down beside us and yawned. His eyes were still hard, but he had his emotions fully under control. That was good; I knew how furious he was inside. We needed him with a cool head now. A raging prisoner would get us nowhere.

"How many men do you think Shechem has?" The Phantine appeared truly curious. "The briefing we had said there were… 40 million inmates on the planet?"

"We're only on one portion of it." I shrugged. "But we're at the most populated part. Outside of this city and the capitol, the rest of the world is mostly uninhabited. That'd put… ten million here? I'd say he has direct influence over at least a million then, probably exerts or umbrellas another three."

"Those numbers." Adin groaned. "It boggles the mind. A million Imperial Guardsmen can conquer a system. To have a planet of ten million criminals. What moron thought this would be a good idea?"

"There are plenty of safeguards" I countered. "The Arbites here numbered somewhere around 100,000 men across the planet. They had all the weapons, all the vehicles."

"Look how well that turned out?"

"Well, it did take a mobilized revolution to take them down. You don't see this thing very often."

"But it still happened." Adin stopped and looked around. "Do you hear that?"

I listened carefully, eyes tracking through the room. It was there, a faint call of gunfire and shouting. Someone was battling outside.

"Guard, what's going on?"

I rushed to the cell, heedless of the way his autogun snapped up. Stopping respectfully, I nodded towards the door.

"Sounds like a battle out there."

The man lowered his rifle and touched the side of his helmet. It was a functionally useless gesture, but it told me to shut up. After a moment he lifted his autogun and went to the door. The sounds of battle powered into the room as it opened. The guard hesitated, then started firing. I could not see down the hall, but he charged off and the door shut behind him. Before it did I heard a bone-chilling scream. Initiate Nala was screaming.

The door shut with a creaking groan and the noises were muffled again. Straining against the bars, I picked out the occasional crackle of an overcharged power maul or the rough bark of an autogun. Whatever it was, the battle was furious. Sounded like the Armageddon out there. Through it all though, the muted, shrieking note remained. The din fell silent after a minute, but I still heard her screaming.

"The hell is going on out there?"

Opryszko joined me at the bars. He fiddled with the cell door, shaking the lock in the vain hope it would open. Adin joined him. Neither paid the door much attention.

"Is that the others?" Initiate Marjorie stood by my side. She gripped my wrist tightly, weary eyes brightening with hope. "Are they coming to rescue us?"

The screaming grew louder, and I felt my stomach plummet. It was hoarse, interrupted, and pained. Opryszko and Adin halted on the door. They looked up and met my eyes. My chest filled with ice.

"Sister Marjorie, go to the back wall and close your ears."

"What?" She took a step back in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Sister, please do it." My voice scraped in my throat. "Sergeant?"

"This way." Opryszko grabbed her gently by the shoulders and guided her to the wall. She protested weakly, still not sure what was going on. I had to look away from her. Behind me I heard him speaking to her in low, quiet tones. It was the closest thing to comforting that I would have imagined him being able to do. But he sounded like that medic trying to ease a dying man's passing. Soldiers weren't meant to deal with girls.

"What do you think?" Adin's hand was clenched on the bars so tightly his knuckles were white. 'Who are the bastards?"

"Not Bojock's men." I felt nausea rising to my throat. Fighting it down, I pressed my forehead against the cool metal bars. "No, those are the regular scum. Damn it! I shouldn't have let them go out. It was only inviting trouble."

Her cries had gone silent. That or they weren't loud enough to pierce the door. I wanted to vomit. I felt every nerve in my body aching and complaining from the hectic days since we were on Lord Verne's barge. We were worn out; we were tired. My barriers were weak and I was too tired to function. Adin sensed it coming. He grabbed my shoulder and held me up as I retched and puked on the floor.

"You okay?"

"I will kill those men." I gasped for breath. My hands were shaking when I straightened. "I swear by the Emperor I will-"

"We all will." Adin's mouth was shut tightly. "We are going to kill every one of those bastards."

It was about an hour later when the doors opened. I stood up hesitantly and approached the doors, but shuffled backwards when four thugs armed with pistols and autoguns piled into the room. They had blood on their hands and a few sported injuries. The leering grins on their faces as they looked at Initiate Marjorie made my gut clench with fury.

"Easy there" one barked. He approached the cell door and unlocked it. The keys shone with slick blood. So much for Bojock's men. "We're just dropping something off."

A few more came in, dragging a naked and unrecognizable body between them. They hurled it into the cell before locking it back up. Marjorie screamed, a keening wail that cut through the room and even halted the convicts.

It was almost impossible to tell that the bloodied, shattered piles of limbs was Initiate Nala. Her hair had been ripped out, her body flayed open, her bones broken. Nothing remained intact save her eyes. They were glazed over with a milky deathstare. Her small body was drenched in blood and other fluids that left no questions as to what had happened to her.

"We'll be coming back for the other one later." The man sneered. "This one went and died on us."

"You…" I was at the bars before he could pull away. One hand grabbed his throat, crushing his windpipe before he realized he was dead. The other cracked his arm back at the elbow. The others moved in to help, but the anger surging through me would not be contained. His arm separated, and I found myself holding his hand, holding his autopistol. I fired blindly into the crowd, sending bullets through flesh like a butcher at work. There was no way to miss, there were too many of them. Men were screaming and shouting and dying.

At last one grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bars. A rifle butt struck me and I was on the ground, vision swimming. A single shot rang out and my ribs stopped hurting. Everything stopped hurting.

"Enough of that!"

Someone was shouting. I did not know who it was. There was as scuffle, the cell door started to open, but then more voices rose and it closed again. Someone appeared over me, Adin I thought. Couldn't tell. It was dark.

There was a scrabble outside the cell. The room door opened and things were slid out. Then it slammed shut and all that was left was the buzzing in my ears. Drunken words battered my hearing. They sounded silly… I wasn't hit. I felt…

.

Initiate Marjorie had one hand inside my chest. I woke with a start, a breath exploding out of my lungs. She flinched and shouted for the others. Adin shoved me back against the wall with his arm.

"Still, you fracking idiot. She's trying to save your life."

I obeyed, receiving the order with years of hard-bred instinct. The Sister's face was deathly pale, and she worked. Mind-numbing pain clawed inside as she fished out the fragments with her bare fingers. There were no tools left, no medicine. I ground my teeth to keep from screaming.

"That's it." Adin nodded. "Calm as you can. She'll be done in a moment."

"Throne, that hurts." I closed my eyes and screamed into my teeth. She was touching my stomach.

"Damn fine fight" Adin said, his voice rough and choked. "You took down five of the bastards."

"Where…"

"We're all here. Opryszko, me, Marjorie, and…"

Initiate Marjorie pulled out and tossed the last fragment aside. She mewled pathetically, eyes tearing up. Adin bowed his head and pointed to the side. I turned my head and saw Opryszko sitting beside a corpse. He had stripped his shirt and laid it over her as best he could. Initiate Marjorie lost it. She sobbed and buried her face in my shoulder, body shaking as if she would fall apart.

"Down to four." Adin said. I placed the roughness in his voice. Opryszko's face mirrored it too. Shock. They were all in a state of shock.

"Emperor guide her soul."

The words barely made it out past my lips. I groaned, fighting against the pain the Sister was causing by pressing against my side. She cried until snot ran down her face and her eyes were puffy. I didn't blame her. I knew nothing about what to do except hold her tight and pray.

"She is…?"

"Dead." Adin confirmed it. "Was before they threw her in, looks like."

"Poor girl."

Opryszko rose to his feet and strode over. His motions were stiff, mechanical. It was the first time I'd ever seen him close to tears. Fire raged in his eyes, a cold smoldering fire that would have sent a lesser man fleeing for cover. It looked like he would speak, but words failed and he merely patted the back of Initiate Marjorie's head.

"We can't let it happen to her." I wrapped an arm around her bony shoulders and looked from Adin to Opryszko. They nodded.

"We might not have much choice. They've got the guns."

"Then… we will find a way." I refused to admit the truth. There was nothing we could do to protect her. It we tried, they would kill us all and have their way with her anyways. But I'd be damned if I would still be breathing when it happened.

"How is… she asleep?"

I lifted her head up and checked. She had cried herself to sleep in seconds. It had to be how tired she was. The weariness showed on her face even through the tears. I shifted her over and laid her on the ground. Even that effort left me breathing a little harder.

"How old is she?" I picked some grime off of my pants.

"Can't be more than… hell I don't know." Opryszko growled. "Far too young to endure this. Looks more like a kid than a woman."

"If those men come in again we need to protect her. What can we do?" Adin made a face. "Opryszko, you're the only healthy one here. I've got one arm, and it doesn't look like Kane is able to move."

"Then I'll fight them as they come in." Opryszko shrugged. "They'll kill me, but they'll have to climb over the dead to do it. Adin, I expect you at my side."

"Wouldn't be found anywhere else."

They looked down at me. I grimaced and tried to stand. I hardly got to my knees before I had to sit back down. I felt the air tickling my organs through the hole. There was nothing to bandage it with, nothing clean at least. The feeling made me shiver. It hurt to take a deep breath.

"Never thought we'd go down like this."

"Here." Opryszko fished in his pocket and handed me a flat shared of steel. He had chipped it off of the wall earlier. "When they get past us, make sure they don't get her out alive."

"Frack." I took the shard and set it by my side. "Can't believe this."

"Chin up" Adin said. He forced a weak smile. "_Dulce et Decorum est_."

"_Dulce et Decourm est_" I repeated. The words calmed my nerves, settled my mind. It was an ancient phrase, something that had passed through the ages since the first humans had treaded on Holy Terra. The Schola Progenium did not approve of the phrase because it did not originate within Imperial scripture. But it brought Cadians a great source of strength and a reminder of what they fought for. In the long campaigns on the wartorn lands of Cadia, when men were dead and dying all around and everyone's nerves were pushed past the limit, _Dulce et Decorum est_ put steel in their bones. _Dulce et Decorum est_.

Opryszko snorted and stalked to the door. "You shinies and your fancy words. That means what I think it means, then the Phantines have one too."

"What?" Adin looked at his back.

"Out of the Skies and into Hell."

"Yeah, that sounds appropriate."

We spent the next hour in silence. Initiate Marjorie woke after a while, looking worse for wear and barely maintaining her composure. She huddled close, knees tucked to her chin. Her eyes remained half-shut. We gave her space. When she finally spoke her voice bore little trace of the pain and grief.

"They will come back."

I wasn't sure whether it was a question or a statement. She lifted her head and looked at me. "They will come back for me."

"They'll try." I mustered as much bravado as I could manage. "We won't let them."

"I don't want to… to go like that." She started to turn towards her Sister, but a greenish hue came across her face and she looked away. Rising suddenly, she came over and curled up against my uninjured side. She sighed and placed her head against my shoulder. Her body was trembling.

"You won't."

"Promise me that." A small hand grabbed my shoulder. I looked down at her.

"We-"

"A promise isn't good enough!"

Her eyes shut tight and she started wheezing. I waited patiently, not sure what to do. The tears were coming. The Sister fought hard against it, but her voice grew scratchy.

"What do you want?"

"You won't be able to stop them. You can't. I don't want to- I don't know what to do."

Tears slid down her cheeks. She could barely speak through the shaking. Adin was standing a few feet away, watching in silence. He pointed to the shard.

"There is only one way we can guarantee that."

"I'm… scared. Emperor forgive me but I can't…" She cringed and wiped at her eyes. It didn't help her. "I'm not strong enough! I'm terrified, sir. I don't want to die!"

"Shh." I held her head in both hands. "It's okay. You shouldn't be scared."

"I don't want to die."

"Death is nothing to be afraid of. You'll go to the Emperor, Marjorie. You will be safe."

"How can I?" She grabbed my wrists. Her nails dug into my skin. "I lack faith. I can't even face death without…. without…"

She grew incoherent, sobbing into my hands. I picked up the shard and stared at it, the turmoil reaching my own mind. It would not be clean. The shard was too rough and dull. It was good for sawing, maybe. Not for a mercy killing.

"There is one way."

She looked up. Confusion broke through the crying, and she gave me her attention.

"What?"

"There is a quick way."

She blanched. "But… suicide is a mortal sin. The Emperor would never forgive-"

"Not suicide." I swallowed. Tossing the shard to Adin, I weighed my words. We were dead anyway. It wouldn't matter. "Come here."

She didn't. Motioning again, I explained.

"We cannot get you out of here alive. But we can ease your passing."

"How do you mean?"

I looked to Adin. He seemed to understand, because he nodded and turned away. Opryszko looked away from the door long enough to meet my eyes. He folded his arms in the Aquila and bowed his head.

"I'll do it."

She recoiled as if struck.

"What?"

"I can make it painless."

Conflicting emotions played out across her face. She inched closer and bit her lip to hold in a sob. Despair won out in her eyes, and she crawled onto my lap. I felt her sobbing as she pulled her hair to the side. It gave me a clear line on her neck.

"It won't hurt?" I could barely hear her voice.

"Pray for us" I asked. She nodded. "Sing us a song, don't think about it. Just lean back… and relax."

Her voice was hoarse and timid. We could not hear her at first, but her voice grew in clarity as she slipped into the familiar notes of a hymn. It was a sad thing, to see her sputtering out the words.

_Love the Emperor  
>for He is the salvation of mankind<br>Obey His words  
>for He will lead you into the light of the future<em>

Opryszko glanced sharply back at us. "Someone's coming." I nodded and slipped an arm in front of her throat. The other pressed against the back of her neck, elbow locking into place. It would be over quickly for her, faster than she even knew.

Her voice faltered. She put both hands on my arm. It was a nervous reflex. Craning her head to the side, she looked me square in the eye. Terror was battling for control. Shushing her, I told her to keep singing.

_Heed his wisdom  
>for He will protect you from evil<br>Whisper his prayers with devotion,  
>for they will save your soul<br>Honour His serv_-

Stopping suddenly, she choked out a breath and pulled against my arm. "No… I'm not ready. I can't do this! Please, please don't."

"They're close." Opryszko growled at me. "Damn it, Kane."

"Marjorie." I patted her back of her head. "Everything will be fine."

"Kane… they're at the door."

"I don't- I can't do it. Let me go! Let me…"

Her legs kicked out once and she was gone. I laid her body down beside me. The others looked to the door. No one wanted to speak. The door creaked and whined as it slid open, the ancient swing-style door scraping against the ground. A half-dozen men swaggered in. They weren't familiar. I watched them stride up to the bars, appearing very confident and cocky with their numbers and weapons. They hesitated when they saw the last Sister lying motionless on the floor.

"What's that?" One approached the cell door. They did not have the keys apparently, so he remained on the far side and pointed. "What happened to her?"

Adin growled. "She's dead."

"Dead?" They murmured among themselves. "Well, that blows."

I turned the Sister's face away, feeling sick. Her eyes wouldn't shut. My fingers brushed over them, trying to close them, but they opened as soon as I released them. Her frail little face was frozen in her last moments, fear marring her elfin features. It shouldn't have been like this. They shouldn't have been on a planet like this.

"Hey, you!"

Adin nudged me with his boot. I glanced up and found the men staring at me. They were not happy.

"You the one that gutted her?"

"What's it to you?"

They snarled and made a show of posturing.

"You're lucky we don't have the keys right now, you little shit. Ruining our fun like that. We'll be back, and you're going to wish you hadn't touched her."

"Looking forward to it" I snapped.

They grumbled and headed back to the door. The first one opened and turned back towards us. "Don't think you're special. Bojock and his goons ain't around anymore. You've got nothing protecting you now. The damn psyker's not our lord either. You belong to us now."

I opened my mouth to speak, but a sudden explosion of gunfire erupted further down the building. The men started in surprise and stepped away from the door. Through the din of rising combat I recognized the thunderous crack-boom of bolter fire. Adin and Opryszko shared a look with me. There were a lot of bolters. That could only mean one thing.

I looked at Initiate Marjorie's body and cried.


	16. No Reservations

Five minutes later, the doors opened again. A man staggered through, blood soaking through his roughspun clothes. He made it two feet into the room before falling to his knees and collapsing to the ground. The ozone stench of cooked meat rankled my senses. I wasn't paying attention though, nor did I watch the armored figures who stormed in behind. The metallic snapping of armored boots pounded through the room. Opryszko swore loudly.

"Vlad!"

"Sarge?"

A lasgun fired and the cell door swung open. I finally looked up. Four dirty and tired Phantine soldiers stood in the room, weapons pointed at the ground. I recognized Vlad. His eyes were wide and roving about the cell. They settled on the Sister and recognition sparked.

"Zero, go get the Master. Alto, Biter, help the rest clear the block."

The men leapt to it, slipping out of the room with the same intensity as their entrance. Vlad did not move. He stared at Opryszko for a moment in wonder before pointing to Adin.

"You're missing something there."

Adin said nothing. Stalking out of the cell, he fished about on the corpse and found a knife. Armed now, he returned to the cell and sat down facing away from the door. His behavior left Vlad confused. Head swiveling between them, he nodded at Oprsyzko.

"Sarge?"

"Good to see you." His voice carried no emotion. It was flat, tense. "It's been a long few days. We're not in the mood."

"Roger that." Vlad glanced around. "Where's the rest of the squad? They in another cell?"

"There is no one else." Adin was examining the knife with detached interest. "Everyone else is dead."

"Throne! All of them?"

"_Did I fracking stutter_!" He threw the knife at the wall. It snapped in half and the pieces flew in all directions. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Been…" Vlad shut his mouth. He nodded once and returned to the door. "I'll give you some space."

He strode outside and stood at the door. I watched his back, noting the damage to his gear. He had plenty of fresh scars and scrapes. They had been in combat too. Maybe a lot of it. The bolters were still ringing. The fire was sporadic now; the good guys were finishing up with the place.

It wasn't long before there was no shooting. Zero returned, leading a half-dozen familiar faces. Lord Verne entered the room without pomp. His coat was dusty and scorched on the edges but otherwise he appeared utterly unharmed. Piercing eyes flicked across the room and took in everything in one glance. He caught my eye, forcing me to look up.

As commanding as his gaze was, I found my attention sliding to the others. Lady Kairi was there, face marred by a cut across her face that went from her ear to her lip. It highlighted how pale her face was, and how wild her eyes. Her chainsword sputtered and coughed as it idled. The humor and cheer he had seen just a few days ago was gone.

And behind her marched a proud and angry Sister of Battle. Sister Superior Myrabeth glared from the two Sisters to me. I read the accusation without needing explanation. A foot in the door and she had already decided I was to blame. Maybe I was.

"Kasrkin."

He spoke softly because he did not need to speak louder. I pulled myself to my feet, clutching my gut as the movement sent ripples of pain through my body. Opryszko gave me his shoulder for support. Together we strode to the cell door. The Inquisitor waited patiently on the other side.

"Senior Sergeant Kane, reporting." I threw a weak salute. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Watch your tongue" Lady Kairi snapped. She took a step forward. Lord Verne silenced her with a flick of his wrist. It was a subtle motion that only those of us who had spent time with him understood. Her lips pressed together in a frown. She did not like anyone giving Lord Verne disrespect. Anyone.

"This is all?" He did not appear disturbed by the carnage in the cell. Offering Adin a brief nod, he crossed his arms. "Your efforts have not been in vain. Your progress in the last days, and the chaos you have caused, opened us a path. We have disrupted the traitor's summonings and forced him into flight."

"_Our progress?_" I laughed bitterly. "You knew where we were?"

"Munzi kept us apprised of your… rampage. It was expedient for us to let you draw the attention while we struck at the heart of the psyker's operations."

"Fracking traitor." I felt fury bubble up in my veins. It was a good thing for Munzi that four people stood between us. His eyes flickered briefly, bionic upgrades filtering something that none of us would know about. "You knew where we were. You knew what was happening to us and you did _nothing_?"

Lady Kairi fidgeted beside the Inquisitor. She brought her chainsword up to her shoulder in warning that I should shut my mouth. It would take a lot more than a threat from her to calm me down.

"Weigh your next words carefully" Lord Verne said. There was no ire in his voice. He did not need to threaten. The only thing that could shut me up when I was angry. "We are all expendable in the eyes of the God-Emperor. Know your place."

I wanted to scream at him, to spit in his face and curse his name. Opryszko felt the tension in my body and put a hand on my back. He had no need to worry. I could barely stand. A ragged gasp tore itself through my defenses and I fell to my knees. Lady Kairi was there in an instant. Setting her chainsword on the floor, she leaned me back against the cell bars and ripped the shirt aside. Only worry showed; her moods changed on the flip of a coin.

"Sit still" she said, exasperation coloring her sigh. "Mercy on you, what did you do that for. Why isn't this cleaned?"

"Didn't have any supplies" I muttered. Her fingers touched the skin around the wound and the pain melted away. I squirmed uncomfortably. Even though she had practiced it on me before, I could not grow used to it. Her skill with manipulating the human body bordered on magical.

"Damn diehard. At some point you should do yourself a favor and let yourself get killed."

"What happened here" Sister Myrabeth demanded. She stormed past Lord Verne and stood over me, bolter pointing. "What happened to the Initiates?"

"So now you care." I coughed and the salty iron taste of blood filled my mouth. "Where did your Rhino go? Did you run like a little bitch before or after we started taking shots from the lascannon?"

"You dare!"

"Yes I fracking do!" The little outburst left me coughing and groaning. Lady Kairi covered my mouth with a worn handkerchief to catch the blood.

The Sister scowled and turned on Opryszko. "You. Report."

"Go frack yourself." He drew himself up to his full height. "You know what we do to cowards in the Phantine?"

She punched him square in the chest. Her power armor-reinforced blow knocked him flat on his back. No one moved to help him, not even Vlad. The corporal grimaced and looked away.

"Lord Verne, I would advise you curb these wretch's tongues."

He said nothing. Looking down at me, he inclined his head. "Sergeant Kane?"

I took a deep breath. Starting at when our Valkyrie was shot down, I told them everything that happened. Nothing was left out. They watched and listened impassively, except for Sister Superior Myrabeth. She moved from one corpse to the other, examining their bodies. When I got to the stand in the courtyard she returned to Lord Verne's side and glared at me. There was pure, unadulterated disgust in her eyes.

"And you were brought here." Lord Verne gestured around the room. His eyes settled on the fallen Sisters. "What occurred here?"

Swallowing back a shiver, I explained it all. Sister Myrabeth interrupted angrily when I spoke of Initiate Nala's assault.

"You let her out on her own? You might as well have ordered her to her death" she snarled. I stiffened and glared back at her.

"It wasn't supposed to go that way. We thought it was safe."

"_Thought it was safe_" she snarled. "To leave her in the hands of traitors?"

"Were you here?" I swallowed back a bit of blood. "Where were you when the Baneblade was slaughtering us in the streets? Where were you when they had us surrounded and swamped us with their sheer numbers. Where the frack were you when they were taking potshots at us through the damn bars?"

She did not answer, but her face was drawn so tightly that I thought her face would crack in half. Her bolter was armed, I noted. And her finger was on the trigger.

"And what happened to Sister Marjorie?"

The question hung in the air. Lady Kairi hesitated in the middle of wrapping the wound, her eyes drifting over to the untarnished body. I took as deep a breath as I could manage. It was not very deep.

"The traitors were coming back, for her. I killed her."

"You-" The Sister could not form words. A shocked outcry came from the other Sisters in the room. Multiple bolter clicked as they flicked off safeties and leveled them on me. Lady Kairi stepped in their way without hesitation.

"It was that or…" I gestured toward the other one. "It was a mercy killing."

"You do not have the right to make that decision. You are nothing before even the lowest Sister of our Order."

"But they aren't important enough for you to watch over yourself." I glared back at her. "Because I've had to watch way too damn many of them die in the past few days while you and your Sisters of _Battle_ were nowhere to be found."

"Our mission was more-"

"Our_ mission?"_ I snorted in disgust. "I was told in the Schola that your kind were supposed to be fearless, and never left a Sister behind. I guess that part wasn't even close, because you left these ones all to die. Hell, you aren't all that fearless either, because you" I pointed at the other Sisters "followed this coward away from your comrades. And her…" I jerked my thumb towards Initiate Marjorie's body. "She was so damn terrified of what would happen to her. She saw what happened to her comrade, she knew what kind of death she was in for, and when I offered her the easy way out she argued against it. The girl was so scared she was pissing herself. But at least she was here facing the enemy."

Something snapped in the Sister Superior. A throaty growl tore itself from her throat. She lifted her bolter to her shoulder and took aim.

"Sergeant Kane, for the crime of murdering a Sister of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, I find you guilty and sentence you to death. May the Emperor spit you out of his presence and cast your soul to the War-"

I lunged forward, throwing every ounce of energy I had left into the motion. Sliding over Lady Kairi's back, I ripped her needle pistol free of its holster. The snap-hiss of the las-bolt combination rasped in everyone's ears. Sister Myrabeth completed her judgment, mouth still moving even as her brain realized she was dead. The remaining eye widened in horror. She crumpled to the ground without another word.

One of the Sisters lunged forward and I leveled the needle pistol on her. My hand was shaking badly.

"Now I'm guilty of murdering two. Want to try your luck, Sister?" I growled the words, fighting through the pain wracking my chest from the sudden movement. Lady Kairi remained on her knees, body frozen as I rested and elbow on the small of her back for support. I could feel the tension radiating from her. If the Sister pulled the trigger, she would get blown to ribbons with me.

It did not happen. Lord Verne stepped between the two of us and pushed the Sister's bolter to the side. The look he shot me held no pity, no sympathy. I could have sworn there was guarded approval in his gaze.

"Enough of this. Sergeant Kane, you will be tried for your crimes once we are gone from this planet. Sister Cammi, by the authority of the Ordo I place you in charge of your remaining Sisters. Consecrate their bodies as you need to. We have too many enemies to lose another of our ranks. Sister, are we clear?"

"I…" the Sister hesitated, rage playing across her face in spasms. At last she lowered her bolter and nodded her head. "As you command, Inquisitor. This will be reported."

"It will" Lord Verne agreed. "Now tend to your Sisters. Sergeant Opryszko, take command of your Phantines. They will be glad to have you returned."

He paused and looked down at me. His gaze settled on the needle pistol. "I trust you will surrender that weapon back to Lady Kairi. If you feel the urge to shoot another member of the team then I will lock you back in this cell and leave you for the prisoners to find."

I set the weapon down and leaned back against the wall. Lady Kairi scrambled to the side, color returning from a deathly pale face. She snatched up her pistol and put it back in the holster. Offering me a final pat on the shoulder, she moved over to Adin and began ministering to his shoulder. A few minutes later I felt comfortable standing. Munzi stared at me, cold bionic eyes clicking away.

"When we get back to the ship" I said, leaning on the table for support. "You and I have unfinished business."

He did not reply.

The Phantine nicknamed Zero tramped into the room. He spent a moment wiping some blood off of a knife and saluted Opryszko.

"Got some prisoners, Sarge. Four of them, waiting in the cell a few down. Alto is with them."

"Prisoners?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"We found them hiding in a side—room. They surrendered the instant we found them. Begged for their lives and all that. Said they were honest, Emperor-fearing souls."

"Let me see them." I started forward. Lady Kairi came to my side. She slipped my arm over her shoulder.

"You aren't getting all of the fun on this" she said. "Private, lead the way."

Vlad greeted us by the door. Alto stood inside. Four men were tied to chairs. I ran my eyes over them as we entered. I recognized two of them. They had carried Initiate Nala's body to the cell. My gut clenched painfully when they looked to Lady Kairi and immediately started begging. They deserved no mercy.

She left me to stand on my own and approached them, daintily removing her gloves as she did.

"Private." I caught Alto's attention. "Have a lighter and your knife?"

"Here you go." He handed them over innocently. "Looking for a smoke?"

"No." I glanced back at the men. Advancing from behind Lady Kairi, I strode directly up to the speaker and slammed the knife directly into his knee. The man's shriek was so loud that Lady Kairi grimaced. She addressed me calmly.

"Sergeant, do you mind?"

"These are the bastards that killed the Sister."

"Oh." She made a face that was somewhere between disgusted and amused. For a moment she stood there watching the stabbed man scream and writhe in the chair. Then she did something I never would have expected. She slipped her gloves back on and put a hand on my shoulder. There was genuine care in her voice. "You have one hour. Your choice."

It took me a moment to realize she was giving me free reign. I nodded to her. "Thank you."

"Just get it done in time." She made a face. "What's the lighter for?"

"You'll hear about it."

She took Alto and left the room. I waited until the door was firmly shut before rounding on the men. Leaving the knife in the man's knee, I spoke in as calm a tone as I could manage.

"Do you know how many ways you can kill a man with a lighter?"

The men stared nervously. One of them moaned in fear.

"I don't have a clue" I answered. "But let's find out now, shall we? I'm going to walk you back through your criminal careers. Wherever your sinned, I'm going to burn it off of you. Starting with your most recent."

.

Three of the prisoners had quite impressive vocal ranges. When I came to the last one, the youngest of the bunch, the man was quite literally shaking with fright. His face was drenched in tears and he could hardly speak for the choking and sobbing.

I wiped off the knife using his face as a towel. He smelled like shit, literally. I sniffed and gave him an odd look. The man did not have much intestinal fortitude.

"Looks like it's just us" I said. He mewled and closed his eyes. I rapped him lightly on the forehead with the flat of the blade. "Come on, don't show fear. You have nothing to worry about. You know the hell that is waiting for you."

I cut his bonds and stepped away. The man slowly opened his eyes, swallowing in relief when he realized he wasn't getting set on fire. Still, he watched me with fearful eyes. He made no move to stand.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm not going to kill you." I slipped the knife into my belt. He blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Well, not immediately." I went to the door and knocked. Alto opened it. Turning back to the man, I shook my head. "I'm going to leave you in here and jam the door. You aren't going to be able to get out. No one will be able to come in for you. Your last days will be spent in this room, with only your three dead buddies as company. In about two days you will be starving to death. When that happens," I pointed towards the others. "Those guys are going to start looking mighty tasty. But that's only going to last you for so long. In the end, you're going to starve to death. Alto, shut the door."

He slammed it and wrenched the lock. We heard faint pounding on the other side. I handed Alto his lighter and knife. "Find something to weld the edges."

"Yes sir."

Lady Kairi stood to the side, arms crossed. She had stepped in at one point to watch, but had quickly left the room. It took a lot to unnerve the Carrion Queen of Flostak. The glint in her eyes could have been mistaken for approval. She gestured to my side.

"How is that holding up?"

"Like a Whiteshield's fire discipline." I shrugged. "We ready to move?"

"This way." She inclined her head and led us towards the entrance. The others were waiting for us. Lord Verne, Kairi, Munzi, Pae, the priest Josephus, four Sisters of Battle, five Phantine troopers, and three Justicars. Adding myself, Opryszko and Adin to that made us a solid twenty. That was more than enough to take on a planet.

Lord Verne paused his instructions to the others long enough to acknowledge us. He motioned for us to join.

"Munzi has intercepted an encoded message from the psyker. We have his location. You are ready to move."

I was used to the way he brushed off our injuries. He waved to the Phantines and they approached with our gear bundled up. I had never been happier to see my hot shot.

"They are unsullied. We found them with the body of Corporal Anton" Vlad said.

Lady Kairi helped me don my gear. The thrill that settled in my chest when I tested the grip on my hot shot almost wiped away the pain in my gut. It didn't come close to erasing the shame. When I felt comfortable enough I signaled to Lord Verne. Our troop moved out and into the streets. There were bodies everywhere, I saw. They had struck the facility with a vengeance. The Valkyrie and the Rhino waited for us, crews standing outside and armed to the teeth.

"Kasrkin, you will ride with us. The Phantines will move to the Rhino."

I slapped Opryszko weakly on the shoulder as he set off. Following the Inquisitor to the Valkyrie, I strapped in by the door and waited for us to get moving. Adin sat stoically across from me. He had his sniper rifle resting between his knees, though it did not look like he would be using it anytime soon. Within seconds of sitting he had pulled out his revolver and begun checking the chamber. I took his lead and rifled through my gear pouches. Four precious stakes remained for the underslung. I had a feeling those would be worth their weight in platinum for the upcoming battles. Lady Kairi was watching disapprovingly. She frowned as I pulled out one of the stakes.

"Miss these?"

Her response was to grimace and pinch the bridge of her nose. I still did not quite understand how the stakes worked, but their effects could not be denied. Just having them out in the presence of a psyker gave her a headache.

"Do you mind?"

I slid the stake back in the pouch and closed the cover. "That better?"

The Valkyrie lifted off and I ground my feet into the deck. Looking to the side, I watched the Rhino take off after us. The Phantines were sitting on top, facing outwards. It had not occurred to me that the Rhino was overcrowded. I was losing my attention to details. If we got back to Lord Verne's ship, I would sleep for a week.

"So where are we heading?"

"Cratertown." She shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what the locals call it. Back when Kairn rebelled, the Navy dropped a core-buster that detonated too soon. It vaporized a three-mile swath of the low habs. Shechem has taken refuge there. We think he's been building a shrine there."

"What kind of shrine?"

She gave me a deadpan stare. "The summoning kind." For a moment she looked to Lord Verne. He nodded his approval. "Time to get you up to speed, Sergeant."

I shared a look with Adin. His face shared my surprise.

"What?"

"There is a reason that Lord Verne is chasing this man. Do you know why that is?"

"I'd take a guess and say it's because he is a powerful heretic psyker and is currently overthrowing a penal colony. That'd make him pretty damn dangerous."

"If that was all" she shook her head. "Then the Navy would be called in to exterminate the planet. We are here for a prophecy, Sergeant."

I hadn't though my stomach could fall any farther today. But somehow I felt that icy coldness grew even chiller, to the point where I wanted to puke just thinking about her words.

"What. Fracking. Prophecy?"

"I won't bore you with the details. The simple explanation is that sometime in this five-year period a major Chaos demonlord is to be raised by a heretic of Flostak."

"Flostak?" It took me a moment to register her words. "That's your homeplanet."

Anger flashed across her face. "It was."

"Then who is this- he's from Flostak? How?"

"It does not matter." The tightness in her voice could hardly be heard over the Valkyrie's engines. "What matters is we must stop him. Lord Verne hoped to kill him quickly on-planet, but those plans have changed. We are on a clock. On finding the situation uncertain Lord Verne sent out a coded distress call to all Ordo forces in the sector. In…" she checked her chrono, "twenty hours this planet is falling under Exterminatus, providing appropriate forces arrive in time."

"Exterminatus?" That pit in my stomach had to be hitting my toes. "Throne, this keeps getting better and better. What's our time to target?"

"Four hours. There is a pocket of Justicar resistance that we will contact. Once there we will gather what loyalist forces we can and march on Shechem."

"March on Shechem" I repeated, grunting. "Have you seen the forces he commands?"

"His forces are in disarray. You destroyed his trump card." She smiled wickedly. "Sergeant Kane the Baneblade-slayer. They would make songs about you on Cadia."

I said nothing. She read my face and switched topics. "We should be looking at a force of two hundred Justicars on our side. That is all that could be reached. Do not fear, Sergeant. The Emperor has done far more with less."

"I'm not afraid of anything down there."

A plink on the hull told us we were taking fire. The pilot radioed back something about potshots and told us not to worry. I risked leaning out and saw the Rhino maneuvering through the streets, guns blazing.

"Ah, frack this. Pilot! They're taking fire down there."

Sliding into the side-mounted heavy bolter, I checked the slide and peered down the sights. We were not very high, but the enemies were in buildings and I had no clear targets. The Valkyrie slowed and began to drop, falling almost like a rock until we pulled up level with a floor of shocked convicts. My finger pumped the trigger in short bursts, blowing their cover to dust and pulping their bodies. The other side-mounted bolter echoed mine, though it fired in one long continuous stream. I glanced back when I ran out of targets and saw Pae at the gun. That was odd; he rarely did heavy lifting.

The Rhino must have radioed an all-clear, because the Valkyrie began to rise again and soar forwards. I returned to my seat and stared at Pae. He was looking straight ahead, expressionless. He rarely spoke, so I addressed Lady Kairi.

"What happened to the others?"

"I told you we ran into Shechem once." She drew a finger across her throat. "Popped Lonn's head like a grape. Dundree had a bad run-in with an ogre named Bojock Ratigan. "

"Bojock?"

"Yes. He's-"

"Shechem's lieutenant. He was the one that took us. Carries a power maul, wars a commissar jacket?"

"That's him." She nodded solemnly. "We thought we killed him."

"Then you're not very thorough. He's alive and kicking."

"Damn that man." She fondled her chainsword. "I look forward to rectifying that mistake."


	17. All In

They took us to the staging point. Lord Verne had not been kidding when he said that very Justicar available had pushed through to here. There were well over three hundred men, along with score or more transports, two Leman Russ Punisher-variants, and three Valkyries. Crew members swarmed over them, enacting field repairs as best they could. Six supply were clustered in the center of the camp, opened and surrounded by crowds of Justicars replenishing supplies and gathering weapons. They were all ragged, battle-scarred, and brimming with righteous fury.

It was a beautiful sight.

Our Valkyrie touched down beside the others and we piled out to be greeted by a dozen shotguns, autorifles, and lasguns. They did not appear to recognize any of us, but on seeing Lord Verne's seal they lowered their weapons and parted. He strode through without a word, heading towards what appeared to be the command post.

Judge Kimball met us there. His face was badly scarred from a shrapnel wound. He greeted Lord Verne with a simple nod before returning to his officers. For the first time in my career, I saw Lord Verne wait patiently to be addressed. The Inquisitor stood to the side and looked out at the Justicar forces. His face betrayed no emotion, but I knew he was calculating. And at that moment I had a sinking feeling I knew what would happen to these brave men and women. He was going to use them as cannon fodder to give us an opening at Shechem.

It shouldn't have bothered me. The cat was out of the bag for me; I knew about the Exterminatus. At the very least, Lord Verne was giving them a chance to go down fighting for the Emperor. It was a far better fate than being viral bombed to hell.

It showed how tired I was. I sat down on a stump of rubble and rubbed a hand over my face. Even with my glove on I felt the scruff of a beard forming. It was the oddest thing to think about.

"Hey, you alright?"

A Justicar medicae knelt down beside me. He was an older one, with graying hair and a wrinkled face. I shrugged and tapped my gut.

"Took a shot sans armor earlier, but it's fine. I've got enough in me to last this out."

The man nodded, his understanding clear. Their medical supplies must be exhausted. I did not want to waste what little they had. He slapped my shoulder and handed me an MRE. I stared at it for a moment, wondering what it was for. Then it struck me how long it had been since I had eaten and I tore into the pack. The food was terrible and I had to force it down. But it was food and I wasn't going to complain.

When the Judge was ready he motioned towards us. Lord Verne invited me to the table.

"This is where he's at" the Judge said. He pointed at a location on a faded, paper map of the region. "This was the ancient Imperial headquarters, back when the planet was loyal. It has been abandoned for centuries."

"But not anymore" Lord Verne said. His eyes studied the map before drawing back to our location. "Their defenses?"

"Their first line is here" he said, drawing his finger across a ring. "We don't know what is behind it, but these are the remnants of the compounds walls. They are not high, only a few dozen feet. But they are strong and no doubt well fortified. Shechem has…" the next words clearly pained him, "reinforced his position with looted weapons. Our scouts report he even has an anti-air missile battery."

"That is our priority then." Lord Verne did not appear disturbed by the revelation. "Have you located its exact position?"

"Here."

"Then that is where you will attack. We have four Valkyries, Judge. My team will occupy two of them, and I want the others loaded with your best remaining troops. Once the battery is destroyed we will deliver the fatal blow that will end Shechem's reign of terror."

The Judge's face set grimly. He understood the order clearly enough. After a long moment he turned to his officers and relayed the order. They showed no fear or hesitation when they saluted and went off to their tasks. Once they were gone he sighed and fixed Lord Verne with an unwavering stare.

"There is something you are not telling me."

Few people could get away with accusing the Inquisitor. Most ended up with their guts spilled on the floor. Lord Verne appeared more mellow than his usual self. He did not even bother denying it.

"I have ordered Exterminatus, Judge. Even if we succeed in slaying Shechem and disrupting any attempted summoning, this world is beyond salvation. The Imperial navy will arrive soon, and any caught on the surface will suffer the cleansing flame of the Emperor."

"My men." The Judge spat and turned to look out at the Justicars. "They fought and died to hold the Amory while their comrades were slaughtered across the planet. Then they fought and died to get here, to lend you aid even as they left so many wounded behind. Now they will fight and die against the walls of that fortified compound, because you ask it. Why? Because they are loyal to the Emperor and will gladly sacrifice their lives to punish the unbeliever and the heretic. But in the end it will not matter. It would be better they find death on the battlefield than survive."

"If it is in the service of the Emperor, then does it matter?"

"It matters to me!" He slammed the table with his fist. The table shattered and fell in half. "These are my men! I am responsible for them and damned I would be if I failed them. What do you want me to say to them? Should I tell them the truth, that their deaths here will serve no purpose. That whether we win or fail, the Navy will obliterate this planet and wipe it from existence. How can I lie to the men and women that have already sacrificed so much?"

"Don't lie." I took a step forward. The Judge glared at me, spite and disgust filling his eyes. But that was for the Inquisitor, not for me. He held his silence as I picked the map off of the broken table and placed it on another flat surface. "Be honest, but be wise. Their sacrifice here will not be forgotten. Lord Verne, I request that you have Munzi transmit the names of these Justicars to the fleet above. Put them up for the honors they deserve and let them be remembered. Even if their lives are forfeit."

The Inquisitor graced me with his cold stare, the one that was usually followed by a derogatory comment regarding my sentimentality. To my surprise, he nodded his head and faced the Judge.

"I will have my man record the names of this force. No doubt someone might find them of worth and your praises will be sung as an example to all the young initiates of your order and so on. Kasrkin, go find him. Send him about your business."

I saluted and left the tent. The others had gathered around one of the supply trucks and were gearing up. The Phantines were carrying more grenades than I would know what to do with. Opryszko tossed a bandolier to me as well.

"Get your game face on, shiny. This is it. This is the final push."

"Ain't it so" I said. I relayed the order to Munzi, who took it without a shred of emotion. He bowed his head and disappeared towards a cluster of officers to gather the roll. My hand twitched by my hot shot's grip. It took considerable effort to walk away and not throw him into the mud. Damn tech-brains. I hated them. I hated them for their lack of humanity.

"Shiny?"

"Yeah?" I turned and saw the Phantines were done. The Justicars were beginning to form in a huge semicircle around the command tent. Opryszko held out his hand.

"Been a pleasure working with you."

"Likewise." I offered a bitter smile. "You might have made a decent Kasrkin."

"Oh, frack that. I like my job." He matched my smile and pointed to the Valkyries. "Gonna miss flying in those though. Things of beauty, they are."

"You aren't going with us?" I frowned.

"Lord Verne's got us leading the ground assault. We'll be taking out the anti-air battery."

"Throne!" I turned and looked for Lord Verne. He was facing away and discussing something with Lady Kairi. "We'll need you in the fight against Shechem."

"You'll need that anti-air done first." The sergeant shrugged. "Every member of my team is specially trained in demolitions work. The Justicars will get us to the wall, but they'll need us to take down the battery."

"That's a suicide run."

"This is all a suicide run." He slapped my shoulder. "Don't look so glum. We're dying for the Emperor. It's a battle of legend about to go down, and we're in the thick of it."

"Legends are overrated." I checked my magazines. "I'm kind of partial to being a boring Kasrkin on the frontlines of Armageddon. They got a recharging station around here?"

"Third truck down."

"Thanks. _Dulce et decorum_."

His grin faded as I turned away. My shoulders were stooped, I realized. Defeat was bleeding into my posture. I stopped behind one of the trucks and took a deep breath. My hands were shaking. My gut was churned so tight I thought it would burst.

"Emperor give me strength."

It took most of my will to choke down the fear that clawed at my belly. The focal point of that fear was sunk into my spine like a Fenrisian Thunderwolf. _Exterminatus_. I had seen it once, from above. Watched the Imperial Navy bombard Flostak into a dusty hulk of rock. From orbit, the sight had been both beautiful and horrifying. It had taken many long nights to lose the nightmares.

Now I was going to watch it again, but from the ground. My mind was dwelling on the different warhead types used by in such strikes. Only one out of every ten bombs would be kinetic. The other nine were chemical, biological, nuclear. If the Navy had Shechem's coordinates we could expect a nuclear strike directly on our position. At least it would ended quickly for us. We would be incinerated in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't death that I was afraid of, though I had wondered where Blanks went when they died. Everyone knew the Emperor was the most powerful psychic force in the galaxy. The Inquisition, and most of the Imperium, agreed that Blanks would not find solace at the Emperor's side in death. We were anathema. We were mutant. There would be no afterlife, just an eternity in the void.

There was a small voice among scholars that postulated the Emperor cleansed the mutants who died in His name. Exhaustive searches through Lord Verne's databanks had revealed isolated cases where Blanks were "burnt out" and lost their mutation due to prolonged exposure to psychic energy. That gave me some hope, but the records were censored and incomplete. For all I knew, they were false reports.

One thing was certain. Regardless of where I landed on the other side, I would go out fighting. I was a Cadian, and a Kasrkin at that. Cadians fought to the last breath. We never surrendered, we never fled from the enemy. The last thing we heard was the sound of our lasguns firing.

The heaviness faded and I sighed. When I entered the Schola, I could never have imagined a death like this. I had always thought I would die on the frontlines, or behind enemy lines, surrounded by my fellow Kasrkin and facing the numberless hordes of Chaos. This was so similar, but so very different. To die in the service of the Inquisition meant that our records would be forever sealed. I did not mind being forgotten to time. There was no one to remember me.

"Taking a break?"

Lady Kairi stood a few feet away, hands on her hips. I glanced over at her. She had abandoned her flowing robe. Her armor was dented and gouged, blackened in numerous places from las fire. The cut across her face had begun to heal already. I suspected faith paper was involved.

"Meditating."

"I didn't know you did that." She strode over and cupped my face in her hands. I resisted the urge to pull back. Her eyes narrowed as she examined me. "Just a few more hours, Kane."

"You don't appear so excited."

"This is something I should have finished a long time ago." There was a slight tremor in her voice. "I could have ended this years in the past, but I did not. We are all paying the price for my weakness."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's… nothing." She dropped her hands and leaned against me. I put my arms around her shoulders. "Promise me something?"

"What?"

Her hand settled over my wound. Sharp nails clicked on my armor. "Stay alive, Kane. Someone has to survive this."

"You forget about the Exterminatus?"

"If we end this fast enough, we can take the Valkyries to orbit. The Navy will have a shuttle waiting to pick up any survivors until the bombing begins."

"Generous of them." I pulled her away and started walking. "Sorry, I need to go recharge my mags."

She fell in step beside me. "I wish I had been by your side."

"No, you don't. Your place was at Lord Verne's side."

Her face changed suddenly. The sorrowful look vanished, replaced by a smug leer. "What you did to those men in the cells. That was inspired."

"Don't want to talk about it." The recharging station was open, so I set to work filling my magazines.

"A lighter and a knife. I never would have thought of that. It's so… primitive." Her eyes were twinkling. "I need to stop being surprised by human ingenuity."

She continued talking, going on about how she would have to do some research into primitive interrogation techniques. The more she spoke, the more I wanted to get the mission going. I'd prefer going toe to toe with Shechem's men than to listen to her talking about her hobbies.

When I finished we returned to the command tent. Judge Kimball was speaking to the Justicars, his booming voice carrying across the site. Our team stood off to the side, alongside the Sisters of Battle that remained. The Justicars were listening earnestly to the Judge, but I saw small ripples of murmuring and discontent spread as the Judge laid down the facts. They did not want to die. None of them wanted to think of their lives being wasted. It struck them just as hard as me.

The Judge finished with a call to their honor. There was not one dissenting voice among the men and women as they raised their weapons in salute, three hundred strong. Three hundred and a handful. It was a pitiful assault force. But it was the most determined assault force I had ever seen. The Justicars rushed to their positions, rechecking their squad orders and doing final weapons checks. A dozen hulking Chasteners stood in ranks beside one of the Valkyries. They were fully armored and carried riot shotguns. Their leader, a hard-faced woman with one eye bandaged, saluted with her power maul.

"Justicars, ready to strike."

"At ease, ma'am." I returned her salute and told them all to relax. They did only slightly. "Are your men qualified to operate the side guns?"

"Every one of them."

"Good. We will need it." I gestured back at Lord Verne's team. "We're operating with no additional crew to strengthen the ground force. Your pilot is being briefed now."

"Sergeant." She returned her power maul to her belt and motioned for me to step away. I did and we spoke facing away from her men. "How is the ground team planning to breach the walls?"

"Not my area, ma'am. The Phantine troopers are the demolition experts. Something wrong?"

"Disabling the anti-air battery is one thing" she said. "But I doubt they have the firepower to take down the wall."

"They don't have to make a breach. Just take a gatehouse and they can storm through."

"That is hardly a milk run." She fixed me with a stern gaze. "I have an idea."

"Go for it."

"Concentrated fire from the Valkyries can breach the wall."

"It could." I weighed the options. "But we'll need all the firepower we can get to clear the way to Shechem."

"Two Valkyries." She held up two fingers. "That would leave half of the Valkyrie payloads for inside the walls. A breach could save many lives."

"They'd be flying in under anti-air fire. The battery will still be intact."

"We can fly low, under their arc."

"That would make you vulnerable to the ground weapons. No Valkyrie can survive a hail of autocannon and las fire."

She did not flinch from the thought. "I would volunteer my Valkyrie. My men would not hesitate to agree."

"I'll take it to Lord Verne."

A slight flicker of thanks passed through her eyes. She patted by back and returned to her troops. It was a good plan were our numbers not so low. We could not afford to lose a single Valkyrie. But I took it to Lord Verne, and waited for his judgment.

"Absolutely not" he snapped, exasperation coloring his voice. "We have need of every weapon on each of our Valkyries. I have humored your need for immortalization, Kasrkin, but I will not throw away our most tactical resources to aid in a feinted assault."

"I wasn't aware that the ground force was a faint" I countered. "You said 'we' would deliver the fatal blow. Our little strike force won't get shit done unless the larger force gets into the mix. You know that, sir. Hell, their Punishers alone could clear us a path all the way to Shechem's smallclothes. We'll need them in the final push."

He said nothing, but I could feel the tingling in my spine as his psychic power began to boil. Ice began to form on his hands, and the stylus in his fingers shattered.

"Kasrkin, my answer is final. Go to your Valkyrie and sit there until we take off. I would have a minute alone without your constant nagging."

"Sir, I-"

"Go!" His hand shot out and I found myself staring down the point of his power sword. "Do not tempt me."

I shut my mouth and bowed. Exiting the tent, I moved to the Valkyrie that stood waiting. The Justicar commander caught my eye. I shook my head. There was no response, no attempt to ask why. She merely nodded and returned to her men.

"How're you doing?"

Adin helped me clamber into the Valkyrie. The stump of his arm was pinned to his side by bandages, and he had a las carbine tucked between his legs. I gave him a hard look.

"You do realize there is no rearguard" Adin stated. He shook his head. "Sitting this one out isn't an option."

"Can you shoot?"

He brought the carbine up and braced it against his shoulder. Even holding it one-handed, he managed a decently steady hold.

"Worst comes to worst, I use a pistol. But there is no way in the Warp you are leaving me behind. Face it, Kane, you're stuck with me."

"As long as you can shoot straight." I took the seat beside the side-mounted heavy bolter. "Who else is in our stick?"

"Some Justicars, and two of the Sisters."

"Oh." I rested my head against the hull. "Go gorram figure. Should I be watching my back on here?"

"Nah." Adin looked towards the ramp. The Sisters stood at the bottom, bolters slung over their shoulders. They strode in and took the seats nearest the ramp. One glanced over at me. There was no judgment or hate in her eyes, just the unsettling gleam of someone who was contemplating an execution.

"Best of luck out there" I said.

"Oh, shut up and stop causing trouble." Lady Kairi brushed in, leading a team of Justicars armed with power mauls and combat shields. She waited until they all sat down approaching the cockpit. I looked around at the others as they settled in. This was the shittiest cavalry charge I had ever been a part in.


	18. Dulce Et Decorum

I watched the armored column leave the cover of the side roads. No battle cry emerged, no shouts of glory and resolve. The Justicars were all in their vehicles, bunched together inside those metal transports that would get them to the wall. The rumble of thirty vehicles could be heard over the Valkyrie's engine. It was a silent charge, a death charge.

Fifteen seconds after they entered the wide swath of open terrain, the guns on the wall began to fire. It was only a couple at first, wild and panicked shots as the men on their guns leapt to action. Then more joined in, and more beside them. Soon a torrent of fire poured into the Justicar vehicles. They returned fire with ferocity, bolters and autocannons firing murderously at the men hiding behind their guns. The scene transformed into a scene of slaughter as vehicles exploded and chunks of the wall fell away.

"They are going to need more men" Adin muttered. I glanced over; he stood behind me with his eyes fixed on the scene. My fingers strained on the trigger, but we could not fire yet. The Valkyries had to be a surprise. "They need more men."

And all I could think of was a classical bit of prose.

_What's he that wishes so?  
>My brother Westorran? Say it not, loyal brother.<br>If it is time to die, we are enough  
>To give our homeworld loss; and if to live,<br>Those that remain receive a greater share of honor._

"They can do it." I growled under my breath as one of the Leman Russ Punishers took a glancing hit from las fire. They only had two, and they were not yet halfway to the wall. Four of the Chimeras were already on fire, and another three had been forced to dismount. The small scurrying figures on the ground were taking heavy fire.

_ "Throne protect them."_

_By the Throne! I beg you dwell not on those not here.  
>In truth, I do not care for pay,<br>Nor what shall happen to those wages lost;  
>Shoulder our uniforms be stripped I care not.<br>Things beyond our control do not carry my thoughts._

"It is a noble charge." Lady Kairi appeared at my other shoulder. She held her breath as she watched. "See how they push through the heretic's fury."

"Their casualties are already high. Do you know which one the Phantines are in?"

"That one." She pointed to one of the Chimeras in the front. "They insisted on leading the charge."

"Damn good men." I let go of the trigger and willed myself to be still. Watching the battle rage from a distance did not sit well with me. I wanted to be in the thick of it, fighting alongside the Justicars. We had a role to play however. And our role was delicate. Ours was the dagger that would slip through the defenses and strike at the heart. Assassins of the battlefield.

It was pride that made me impatient. My skill and my gear would have been a great aid to the Justicars. In the many years I had been in combat I had developed an unhealthy passion for throwing myself into the line of fire. Battle was where I belonged.

_But if I could transgress for want of glory,  
>I am a sinner the likes the Imperium has not seen before.<br>No, courage, brother, do not pray for even one more man.  
>Throne's mercy! I would not diminish so great a glory<br>As even that man could take from me  
>To all that I could hope for. Do not pray for another!<em>

The first Punisher tank exploded. Three separate cannons had battered it from the outset, and a shell finally pierced the shattered armor plates and detonated inside. A white-hot rush of plasma fire spilled out of every crack as the las power cells cooked off. Three flaming bodies crawled out of the turret, gunned down immediately by passing soldiers.

The surviving twenty vehicles began to pass under the arc of the guns. Heavy weapons were abandoned and the pinpricks of lasgun fire and autoguns began to light up the wall. Here the remaining Punisher finally opened fire. The gatling laser cannon started slowly as it spooled. Then a near-constant stream of laser fire flashed out and cut a swath of destruction and death across the wall. Many guns fell silent, but as the weapon ceased to cool it was taken up by more men. Grenades began to fall.

"They are brave men." Lady Kairi's face became blank and cold. "So much death around them, and not a one retreated."

"They don't have much of a choice" I told her. "It would be more dangerous to fall back than to go forward."

The Chimeras disgorged their troops under the watchful fire of the Punisher. The Phantines could not be distinguished, but it looked like they were trying to set up some kind of ladder. The defenders were not giving them anything. They threw down grenades, they lifted weapons over the wall and fired blindly, and they destroyed the ladders that were raised.

The assault was stalling. They needed to get over the wall or the heretics would be able to swarm them. Some element of surprise had been needed. That was disappearing quickly. I pounded my fist against the hull in frustration.

"Damn it!"

One of the Valkyries suddenly broke formation. I started in surprise as ours banked to avoid being struck. The gunship hurtled out from the protection of the buildings and flew across the battlefield. It took me a moment to realize who was inside.

"Give me the vox" I shouted. Adin fumbled around until he unhooked the piece. I snatched it and jammed the activator button.

"Ma'am, get back in formation."

"No can do, Sergeant." She spoke in determined, if tense, syllables. "My boys down there are getting hammered. Just us, that's it. You won't begrudge me this."

"Ma'am, you have orders from a Lord Inquisitor."

"Screw his orders! Those are _my men_." Her Valkyrie banked hard to dodge a field of anti-air fire. Little explosions began to ripple across the Valkyrie's body. The vox overflowed with static with each shot taken. When the Valkyrie cleared the field her voice came back, short of breath and badly strained. "You can't charge a dead woman, Sergeant. I promise you, you won't have to worry about the paperwork."

Lord Verne remained curiously silent on the line. My hand slipped off the activator as his Valkyrie came up beside mine. I looked over and saw him watching me, stone-cold.

"You son of a bitch."

He could not have heard me over the engines, but his eyes showed that he knew. He stared for another long moment before the Valkyrie turned away. It cleared the line of sight to the wall. Her Valkyrie was on its approach vector.

Rocket plumes stretched between the gunship and the wall. A dozen explosions, concentrated on a section of the wall only a few dozen meters from the Justicars, rocked the wall and lit up the sky. A second, smaller volley tore into the rubble and left a gaping hole in the defenses. The Valkyrie's multilaser strafed through the gap, cutting into whatever lay beyond. The carnage could not be clearly seen, but I knew its effects.

"Pull out!"

The Valkyrie pulled up and to the side, aiming to turn away from the enemy lines. It was too late. A missile streaked out from behind the wall. It overshot because of the Valkyrie's changed momentum, but a proximity sensor set the missile off. The fireball consumed the gunship and sent it into a terminal spin. I cursed as it disappeared behind the wall, multilaser firing like a whirlwind of death. The pilot was not going down without his last gasp.

A wave of Justicars pushed into the gap while the others remounted the Chimeras. They swarmed the gap like a horde of freezants searching for honey. Someone unfurled a flag of one of the Districts. The dark blue banner displayed the golden aquila and crossed mauls like a beacon for the Justicars to rally behind. It was very heroic.

_Rather, give the order, Westorran, through the ranks,  
>For any man who is unwilling to bear arms,<br>He can retreat; his orders shall be writ,  
>And a letter of safe passage put in his hand;<br>I would not fall beside such a man  
>Who despairs his comrades to die with us.<em>

**This is Sergeant Oprsyzko. Anti-air battery is in sight. Heavy cont- Left flank! Clear that wall!**

His voice boomed over the vox. We listened quietly, ears itching to hear the word that we could move in.

**Vlad, stay on my ass. Somebody get take out that heavy bolter! Shields up front! Frag grenades in the barricades.**

Men's screams could be heard in the background. The Justicars sitting the Valkyrie were stroking their shotguns, worry on their faces. They scowled with every scream that came across. They prayed as every order was belted out.

"Have faith" I told them. "They will prevail."

**Where's my cover fire? Vlad, get tha- frack! Zero, take his melta. Shiny, we're getting slaughtered in here. There's too much crossfire. We've only got one shot at this.**

Adin and Lady Kairi looked at me. I swallowed and put my hand on the activator.

"Do you need us to move in?"

**Negative, you'll get shot out of the sky. We're almost there. Cleared the first… the first line. One more, damn it, one more line to go. The Punisher's giving us some breathing room. Count down from fifty.**

"Hang in there, Sergeant." I handed the vox back to Adin and racked the slide of the heavy bolter. "You heard him, flyboys. I want us over the wall on fifty-one."

Everyone else scrambled to their positions. Lady Kairi took the other side-mount, her small form seeming frail and petite beside the monstrous weapon. The Sisters stood on the top of the ramp, bolters ready to clear the drop zone. Justicars knelt in front of them, combat shields interlocked to present waist-high protection. Providing we got to the landing point, we would be a mini-fortress.

_This day is called the All-Father's Day.  
>He that survives this day, and return to his homeworld,<br>Will stand up proudly when this day is named,  
>And rouse his soul at the All-Father's bells.<em>

Thirty. The Valkyries began to turn towards the walls. They hovered into a V-formation, ours at the lead. Once again, Lord Verne had deferred to my greater combat experience to direct the landing. Not that I was very experienced in aerial assaults. That was the Phantine way. I was a boots-on-the-ground man.

Thirty-five. The pilots pushed their Valkyries into a forward climb. We rose over the short structures that had his us from sight and pushed into the open sky. Once passing the rooftops we dropped to a level where the anti-air could not target us. I did not lean forward to see ahead. I trusted the pilots to get us there. There was nothing to see anyway except the wrecked Justicar vehicles and the scattered corpses of fallen soldiers.

Forty. Josephus's voice crept over the vox. His somber, dirge-like notes carried a prayer to the Golden Throne, a promise of the Emperor's vengeance upon the unfaithful. It was a solemn prayer, not the bombastic speech that I had expected.

_He that survives this day, and see through to old age,  
>Will yearly on the remembrance enjoin his comrades,<br>And say "Tomorrow we celebrate the All-Father."_

Forty-six. I yanked the heavy bolter to the side to ensure it would still rotate. The weapon responded easily, aided by the hydraulic pistons that made it follow my force. I was on the inside of the wall breach. Most of the enemy would be on my side.

Forty-nine. A fast and rhythmic thumping sent tremors through the Valkyrie as the four grenade launchers on the wings began to rain over the wall. Our Valkyrie had foregone its rockets in favor of a more appropriate DZ clearer. Four launchers spitting five rounds a second made the Emperor's wrath a very real feeling.

Fifty. A large explosion sent flame and smoke belching into the air ahead to our left. Sergeant Opryszko's voice barked on the vox.

**Anti-air neutralized. Pro-**

Fifty-one. _Dulce Et Decorum_.

Our Valkyrie broke the crest of the wall as the first grenades began to land. I fired a long burst up the wall, blowing bodies this way and that as the convicts firing down on the Justicars were caught by surprise. Body parts flew in all directions, but it was a small and bloodless thing compared to the hail of death and shrapnel that marched its way towards the palace structure. We began to slow and bank to the right, opening my line of sight so I couldn't help but hit targets. There were thousands of convicts on the palace grounds. Many had no weapons, and vast patches of the ground were so littered with bodies that the dirt could not be seen. Sheer numbers let them advance through the Justicar's desperate fire. The Punisher tank had halted, and smoke poured out of its tracks. Still the turret swept left and right, firing bursts of lasfire that cut down a dozen men at a time. There were so many that filled in the gaps.

Then Lord Verne's Valkyrie launched itself forward and jettisoned its external fuel pods. Each pod was filled to overflow with all of the fuel they could afford to spare from the vehicles. The pods tumbled end over end before crashing down into the middle of the heretic swarms. The third Valkyrie launched a single Hellstrike missile after the pods.

Inferno was too polite a term to describe the explosion. Flames shot hundreds of feet into the air, shockwave flattening bodies and throwing our Valkyries about like dolls in a tornado. I had shut my eyes and covered them, but that was no solace as dry heat blasted my face. Alarms were blaring as the Valkyrie nearly fell from the sky. It righted itself and recovered after a few moments, but and when the pilot got her in the right direction again we saw what it had done.

Two overlapping craters of fifty or so feet marked the blast zero-points. A thousand burning corpses lay stretched out as far as a hundred feet away. No one was standing. The Justicar line had collapsed like a wall pushed over, each man struggling to get back to his feet. Three Chimeras remained, the other had been disabled or flipped over by the blast. Those three lay silent, crew either shaken or killed from the shockwave and heat.

_Then will he roll back his sleeves and shows his scars,  
>And say "These I received on All Father's Day."<em>

"Throne have mercy" I gasped. My lips and throat hurt to speak. I was sure my eyebrows had been singed. But I had a job to do. "All flights, land in the northeast corner, as close to the doors as you can manage. We're going in on foot."

The landing site left several hundred convicts between us and the Justicars. Everyone was still recovering from the explosion as we piled out of the gunships. The female Justicar's Valkyrie had crashed close by. Piles of dead surrounded it, men torn to pieces by the shotguns of the crew. The side-mounted heavy bolters still glow from the heat of their firing. Among the corpses I saw the Chastener armor. I wanted to take a step towards it, but I knew why there were no more live heretics around it. They were all dead, but they had taken down almost a hundred before being overwhelmed.

The air began to rip and crack with precise shots to the heads of all of the down convicts near us. After taking a moment to ensure we were secure I motioned to our pilot. The Valkyries rose up again and began to take up ground support. They hurtled back towards the Justicar lines to pick up new side-mount gunners.

We did not stop to watch them go. Turning back to the foreboding Imperial doors, I strode up to one and found it cracked open. Lord Verne pushed past me and entered. We followed him closely, weapons out and searching for potential targets.

The entryway of the ancient Imperial palace had once been lined with grand murals depicting the Emperor's crusade into the Sector. It had been thousands and thousands of years ago, but the murals remained. Partly remained. In the first rebellion much had been defaced and destroyed. Now, again, heresy and blasphemy ruined the righteous images. All kinds of crudities defiled the depictions of Primarchs and Astartes. Blood seemed the most common defiler. Much of it was fresh and dripping.

I saw it and felt my muscles begin to clench. Blood. The heretics were growing more radical. They were already cutting themselves and sacrificing. That sort of heresy went hand in hand with another.

_The old mind forgets, and memory fades,  
>But he'll remind himself, with utmost clarity,<br>What feats he battled with that day. Then shall our names,  
>Familiar to them all as sainted prayers-<br>Lord General Henricus, Beaufort and Extrenima,  
>Warchild and Tallar, Sarisburn and Glounemore-<br>Be in those endless toasts always remembered._

Lady Kairi saw them first. Her needle pistol snapped up to the ceiling and the sharp cry of "Mutants" gave us warning. The little pistol made two snapping noises, and two bodies plummeted from above. They landed at Lord Verne's feet, bodies twitching and convulsing as the darts' poisons flooded their veins.

Our weapons rose at once and we found ourselves facing a whole horde of ceiling-crawling monstrosities. These were not just mutants, but daemons also. One of the Justicars swore. We fired.

Bolter fire, las fire, solid slugs and promethium plumes set the rafters exploding. Bodies began to rain down on the cracked and rusting tiles. Some of the fire was random, suppressive fire that wounded much but killed little. Others, such as the Sisters and myself, picked our targets and laid out creature after creature with fast but methodical shots. They streamed forward with harsh cries that made our ears hurt. Bone projectiles began to clatter among us as the creatures launched what they had. One Sister stumbled to her knees, a jagged length of bone protruding from her throat. She ripped the fragment free and continued firing her bolter with one hand, slowing the gushing blood with her other.

"We cannot kill them all" I shouted. The shapes were like a cloud, numberless and always advancing. Our shooting did little more damage than a child throwing rocks into a pond. "Run!"

The team rushed forward as one, continuing to fire at the monsters up above. Some began to fall on their own accord, seeking to pin one of us down or land on its feet to fight. Those with melee weapons carved through them with hardly a pause. Individual creatures posed no match for skilled swordsmen like Lady Kairi or Ecclesiarch Jospehus. His massive chainsword split them in half at the touch alone.

_This tale shall a loyal man teach his boys;  
>And not an All-Father's Day shall go by,<br>From this day until the ending of time,  
>But we that fought shall be immortalized-<em>

We reached an intersection and took a right. The bulk of the creatures were on our sides and behind us now. They clambered down the walls and threw themselves at us even as they were destroyed by the score. The wounded Sister fell behind at some point, blood loss killing her. Two of our Justicars fell as daemonic beings with talons and stinger-like tails tore them to pieces.

As the daemons got closer, I felt something begin to change. My skin began to grow dry and cold. I recognized my Blank talent rear its head. Lady Kairi's aim faltered for a moment, and she spared me a moment of a pained but glad face.

"About time" she said, voice cracking and breathy.

The mutants came on, undaunted by so many of their fallen. But as we ran, the numbers of daemons began to lessen. They retreated from contact, squabbling and shrieking down at me in fear. One particularly bold one hurled itself down from the ceiling. It led with a pincer-like claw, attempting to crush me to the ground. I sidestepped the creature and cracked it across the head with the butt of my hot shot. The blow should not have hurt it. Daemons were tough monsters with powerfully thick bones. But its head crumpled in like it was made of mush, and it was dead before it hit the floor.

I tried to rack my brain for the layout of the building. The throne room was dead ahead. That would be where we would find Shechem. Even if I had doubts, the hulking monsters guarding the doors warned me that I was right. Three towering daemons with terrible black swords stood barring our way. They howled and bayed like wild animals as we came into view.

_This tale shall a loyal man teach his boys;  
>And not an All-Father's Day shall go by,<br>From this day until the ending of time,  
>But we that fought shall be immortalized-<em>

A wave of their power struck us like a tidal wave. It washed over me, bubbling and boiling against my Blank aura. The others were not so fortunate. Justicars screamed and fell to the ground clawing at their ears and eyes. Pae's head burst open like a ripe fruit and his body collapsed in a fit of spasms. Munzi fell to his knees, bionic eyes sparking as his electronics were overloaded. Even the steadfast Josephus staggered back a step, dazed by the powerful psychic assault.

Lord Verne, Lady Kairi, the Sisters, Adin and I were unaffected. Lady Kairi calmly fired a shot at the center daemon, but the needle exploded in a fine mist just centimeters away. The daemon chuckled. Its dark and guttural laughter had no affect on me, but her hand dropped to her side and her face whitened.

The mutants had retreated. I looked around for a moment, watching the horrid creatures scurry off into the shadows. This was a fight between champions. I looked at the others. Nine servants of the Imperium against three daemons of Chaos. It was the fairest a fight I could ask for.

"Wishing you were back on the Valkyrie?" I asked Adin. He snorted and dropped his carbine. Drawing a las pistol, he fired a single shot. The las beam hardly fazed the daemon. It lifted its sword in challenge and bellowed at us. Even I felt the sheer force in that.

I calmly pulled one of the precious silver stakes from its pouch. One more after this. Loading the underslung, I motioned to Lord Verne. He had his power sword drawn and it dripped unholy blood. "_We few, we lucky few, we baptized by blood; For he this day that spills his blood with me Shall my brother be; even so a ruffian in the Guard, This battle shall purify his soul_."

I fired the stake. The daemon did not know what hit it. The silvery stake pierced its chest and buried itself deep inside. For a millisecond the daemon glared straight at me, a pained cry rising in its throat. Then the stake released its payload.

The daemon was so far away that our psykers did not fear the psychic wave. We stood our ground and watched as the daemon melted in a ball of roiling psychic energy. Cold rippled down the hallway, chilling our skin and soothing wounds. The other two recoiled in pain and shrieked. Their cries were terrible to hear, a cry so wrenching that Adin vomited on the floor. The explosion lasted mere seconds, but it felt like a much longer time.

Two of the daemons remained. They stood uneasily on their feet, black swords lined with cracks. As one they pointed my way and charged. I calmly locked up my underslung and flipped my hot shot to full power.

"_And hab-citizens on homeworld now at their work Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their worth but cheap!_"_while soldiers boast That fought with us upon All-Father's Day!_"

Our line surged forward to meet the two daemons. The Sisters led the way, bolters firing relentlessly. Two drew chainswords, Sister Cammi a power sword, and the other pumped purifying promethium into the faces of the daemons. She died first. The daemons bowled through the first three and fell upon the most dangerous of their foes. Her death cry was lost as she detonated her promethium and soaked the daemons in fire. The daemons howled and staggered away, flames licking at their limbs. The Sisters fell upon them with a battle hymn on their lips. They sang as they hacked and slashed at the monsters.

And then we joined the fray. Lord Verne was no dainty Inquisitor. He had earned his rank of Lord off the battlefield, but the battlefield was where he began. As he closed in he dove into a slide and whipped his rapier down the thigh and calf of one of the Bloodletters. It swept down with its sword, intending to split him open like a grape. He changed momentum mid-slide, avoiding the ebon blade that plunged through the tiles. The other Bloodletter slashed at waist-height, working to pin him. His inferno pistol burped a blue flame into the daemon's hand, melting immortal flesh to the bone. The daemon reared back and he rolled to safety.

Josephus came in behind him. The priest's might Eviscerator coughed once as he jammed the ignition. Throwing all of his might into one blow, he brought the chainsword cracking across the first Bloodletter's back and buried it all the way to the daemon's spine. He lifted and thrust it deeper. Black blood steamed and splashed on his face, scalding him, but he did not pull back. I rushed to his side and shoved the barrel of my hot shot into the wound. Aiming up and towards the head, I pumped the trigger and unleashed a burst into its neck. The daemon keened and dropped to its knees, mortally wounded.

But it was not dead yet. Its sword lashed out in a desperate swing. Lady Kairi caught the blade in a grip of psychic energy. She closed her hand into a fist and the weakened blade shattered. A flick of her mind sent the shards splintering through its eye sockets and shredding its brain. It flopped down on its face. Oily smoke began to rise as its flesh melted. Two down.

The three Sisters had the other daemon reeling on its heels. They attacked with savage fury, giving it not even a second to catch its balance. Chainswords ripped flesh and the powers sword split bone. They battled it down to a bloody, raging hunk of burning meat. Sister Cammi finished it off with a horizontal swipe of her power sword that took its head clean off.

When the smoking corpses faded my eyes were watering. Stalking out of the putrid fumes, I took a count of who was left. Only lost the one Sister. We were fortunate. Lord Verne stood over the charred corpse of the fallen Sister. He wasted a moment lifting his rapier in salute.

"Kasrkin, open the doors."

I approached the towering, gilded doors and slapped a demolitions charge on it. Setting the timer, I rushed back and slid behind one of the pillars that lined the hall. Adin looked at me from across the way. He tapped his helmet with the laspistol.

"You always did love the classics."

The explosive was a shaped charge that blew a hole in the doors. I rushed through the smoke cloud and threw my shoulder into one door, Adin took the other. Pain burst in my shoulder as the hard metal door fought back. Chopping my heels, I drove the door back and to the side. The Sisters spearheaded the charge into the room.

"**Welcome!**"

No one was firing, but I knew we were not alone. I left off the door and spun into the hall. My hot shot came up as I registered the hundred-something creatures surrounding the throne. They were mutants all, gross and misshapen things that made me sick to look at. My finger twitched on the trigger, but I hesitated when I saw everyone else standing there, weapons down, staring at the throne.

Prisoner Code 25S7W8362UP sat on the throne, clad in pitch black robes so dark that I could not look at them. A smug grin settled on his face as he looked at the assorted team. He did not look the least bit bothered.

"Sir!" I whisper-shouted for Lord Verne. To my horror, I saw him take a step forward, a dazed look in his eyes. He gestured absently for me to lower my weapon.

"Stand down, Kasrkin."

I opened my mouth to protest, but then I realized my mistake. The air was cold, prickling my skin. Shechem was exerting some kind of psychic aura that calmed them. I had just singled myself out as a resistor. That meant Shechem was paying attention.

"Interesting" Shechem said. He had a disarming, soft voice that matched his boyish features. His eyes gleamed bright with power and age that went far beyond his appearance though. Black locks curled about his forehead in a very childish manner. He looked for all the world like a teen. This was the man we had come to kill.

The man waved with his hand. I reluctantly took a step forward.

"You… I remember you."

"Sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else." I spat on the floor. "Never had the displeasure."

"Oh, but you have." The man chuckled. He spoke off to the side and a tall figure made his way through the crowd of mutants. Bojock Ratigan had changed. His humanity was warped now and his mutation had begun. His power maul crackled and coughed as he tapped it against his leg. The shoulder boards of his commissar cloak were ripped, and bony ridges extended like armor. "You have met my hound."

"That one, yes. But when he was human." I did not hide my disgust. "Still haven't seen you before."

"I remember you" the man insisted. "The Butcher of Flostak."

My blood ran cold. Only a few knew that nickname. I brought my hot shot up and fired a round. The beam splashed against a shimmering shield and faded.

"Quaint. Still shooting first and asking questions later."

"Shut up."

"Oh, are you in a position to make demands?" He pretended to look around in search of a superior. Finding none, he shrugged and looked at Lady Kairi. "You, step forward."

She did, chainsword slipping from her hands as she moved. The clatter of the heavy weapon startled me. I started after her, but a dozen weapons rose to stop me.

"No, no. None of that." Shechem tsked. "I want to speak to a fellow homeworlder."

"How do you know who she is?"

"Of course I know my sister. The Carrion Queen and the Butcher. You make such a lovely pair."

I snarled as Lady Kairi dropped to one knee and bowed her head. The motions were stiff, her eyes filled with helpless rage. White-knuckled fists rested on the floor. She was completely helpless.

"She doesn't have a brother."

"Not a blood brother" Shechem said with a laugh. "Surely you understand the bond between those of the same world. You and the… armless one have that."

I glanced over at Adin. His eyelids drooped as he rocked on his heels. His laspistol was held loose in his hand. But I saw something that gave me hope. His irises moved. For a long second I could have sworn he was looking at me.

"So then, since you know so much about us, who are you?" I calmly began to reach towards the pocket with my last stake. "It's impolite to leave a stranger in the dark."

"Sergeant Kane, do you really not remember me?" The man frowned. He appeared insulted. "Maybe little Kairi will. Come here, child."

Lady Kairi stumbled to her feet and took a single step forward. Bojock Ratigan moved forward to block her. He struck her across the face with a savage backhand that sent her reeling.

"I said" Shechem repeated, voice growing hard. "Come. Here."

She picked herself up and began to move again. Bojock kicked her in the chest, knocking her on her back. He snarled down at her and began to kick her again and again. She whimpered as he beat her but made no move to protect herself.

"Come here, you stupid little whore!"

Blood splattered on the floor as she cried out. Bojock cracked his power maul across her hand, shattering the bone and leaving it a bloody, pulped mess. I growled in my throat and dropped my hot shot. The motion drew Bojock's attention. He stopped kicking and looked at me. His lips split vertically to reveal a row of crooked and unnatural fangs.

"Enough. Pick on someone who can fight back, unless you're too much of a coward to do even that."

Bojock looked at Shechem, who nodded with an amused smile. I strode forward, pushing my way past the others. Adin gave the subtlest nudge with his elbow as I passed him.

"You struck me as a man with at least a shred of honor" I said, keeping the attention on myself. I picked up Lady Kairi's fallen chainsword and approached them. Lady Kairi was crawling towards the throne, silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she dragged herself forward with her broken hand. Ignoring Bojock completely, I knelt down beside her and pulled her to her knees. She didn't even look at me.

"Sorry about this, ma'am."

I chopped the back of her neck. Her body jerked and her eyes rolled back in her head. Unconscious, she out of my arms and to the ground. Shechem gave a slow clap.

"You haven't changed a bit, Sergeant Kane. You're still the horndog that I remembered. Have you shagged her yet? I knew it was only a matter of time. And she has _such_ a figure."

"Stop talking about me" I said. The man snickered and motioned to Bojock. The brute brought his power maul up and licked the head. Fire burned his tongue and it did not draw a response.

"How do you do it, by the way?" I gestured to the others. Curiosity was clawing at my stomach. I had seen a lot of psychic power displayed in the past, but this one took the cake. This required either power or skill far beyond what a mortal human should have possessed.

"A paltry trick. You would be surprised how far one can go when aided by the Ruinous Powers. They have gifted me with powers that make Verne's appear childish in comparison." He looked disapprovingly at Lady Kairi's limp form. "I think I may let her live, just for old time's sake. You others will die. But," he sighed. "Unfortunately, the time of the summoning draws near. I will leave Bojock and these minions to finish you all off. It should not be too hard, even for them. After all, your companions are defenseless."

He stood and shrugged off his robe. Underneath he wore nothing, save for a simple loincloth. Ritual tattoos covered him from throat to toe. His pale, pasty skin contrasted sharply with the cultic markings. "Bojock, kill them all. Start with my good friend, Sergeant Kane."

"You know you don't have a change." I pointed to the doors. "There are hundreds of Justicars out there. Take us down and you still have to fight them."

"They are hardly a problem." Shechem strode for a side door in the room. He waved dismissively. "By now my reserves will have come in from beyond the wall and hemmed them in. If any are still alive, they will not be so shortly."

I cursed him. He grinned and revealed a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Do not worry, Sergeant Kane. Everything is going as planned."

He left the room and I faced Bojock. It was a sad sight, even though he was my enemy. To see a creature so stripped and ruined was pitiful. I wanted to kill him quickly.

"This one's for Kairi." I let the chainsword roar. "Come to your death, Bojock Ratigan. I will release you from your hell."


	19. Ad Finem

The noise made when a power maul crashed against a chainsword could not be described in human words.

I ducked under one of his arm-numbing strikes and smacked him hard in the stomach with the guard of the chainsword. My fingers were clenched so tight on the grip that I couldn't feel them. It took all of my focus to concentrate on avoiding two quick jabs.

Bojock might have lost his humanity, but he retained his skill. He was a fast and furious swordsman, utilizing the power maul to its fullest. Rapid thrusts coupled with lightning fast backhands kept me stumbling backwards as we fought. I was not a swordsman. Drop the weapons and I could take him in a brawl. The chainsword was a cumbersome weapon. Lady Kairi had mastered it after years of training. I had plenty of experience, but hated it. Would have taken Lord Verne's power sword over it any day.

"Did you volunteer for that?" I ducked under a blow and stomped on his instep. It should have set the man reeling. Instead he growled and shoved me away. His power maul barely missed my back. "Did you surrender your humanity on your own or did he force you to?"

I didn't think Bojock could speak anymore. The grunts and other noises coming from his split lips made me sure. Anger flared in his eyes nonetheless. He could understand me, and the question hit him hard. An inhuman howl keened through the air and he lunged forward. I made to block the attack, but pulled to the side at the last second and brought the chainsword down on his arm. The blade chewed through his flesh until it saw the arm off. The power maul dropped to the ground with an explosive crunch.

Losing an arm only slowed the brute down for the second it took for him to realize he was down a limb. In that moment I danced behind him and brought the chainsword down through his back. Bojock was split nearly in half. He toppled to the floor.

The mutants took a step back as if struck. I stood over the body and raised the chainsword to aim at them.

"Who's next, bait?"

A few began to shuffle forward. I set my feet and shifted so that I could watch them all. There were too many for me to handle with the chainsword. Then a shot rang out and one of the mutants fell with a hole in its eye. Adin called my name and threw me the hot shot. I caught it, swung it around, and rammed the last stake into the underslung. The mutants did not understand their peril until I fired the stake behind them and into the throne. The silent crack-whip of the psychic energy washing over the crowd broke Shechem's hold on the others. Even as the bodies began to topple in droves, the others snapped out of their reverie and began to fire. Josephus let loose a cry so powerful and full of disgust that I actually leapt out of the way.

He struck the remaining mutants like an Ogryn among Ratlings. Bodies burst apart as he tore them to pieces. He raged through them like a winnowing scythe. The Sisters were a step behind him as they vented their fury. I stood back and let them do their work. I could almost see how powerfully enraged they were at having been held hostage by the heretic's psychic power.

Lord Verne was not so vengeful. He came to my side and looked me in the eye. For the first time in his retinue I saw uncertainty. The realization that he was shaken by Shechem's power threatened to tear my heart out. That wasn't supposed to happen. Lord Verne always knew what to do. Even when I hated him, he was the power and the authority. He was always in control.

"Sir?"

"See to Lady Kairi. Can she move?"

I knelt beside her and checked her pulse. Her eyes fluttered as she stirred. Her cheeks were soaked with tears.

"Kid, you alright?"

"I'm sorry" she mewled. She grabbed my arm and curled up against my knee. "I'm so sorry."

"Easy, kid."

"That face. We knew him, Kane. We knew him."

"Shh…" I shushed her and checked her arm. It looked bad. Every bone was shattered. "Don't worry about him."

"My hand…" A whimper slipped out of her mouth. "It hurts."

"We'll take care of it." I helped her to her feet and handed her the chainsword. She held it awkwardly with one hand. Putting on a brave face, she swallowed and looked at the others. Jospehus and the Sisters had slaughtered the few mutants that survived the stake's explosion. The hall fell strangely silent in the aftermath.

"Orders, Lord Verne?"

Lord Verne brought everyone in. He pointed towards the door Shechem had exited. "We follow him and kill him. Kasrkin, it is time to bring your powers to bear."

"I'll try" was all I could promise. It was good enough, and he told me to lead the way. I checked the charge on my magazine and frowned. Last magazine. Our time was really up.

Shechem's path took us down several long hallways. No more enemies greeted us, though we heard their skittering in the shadows. It was a good thing we did not see more. Almost everyone was injured. My side was bleeding, I could feel the warmth on my stomach. Breathing was getting harder.

We entered what looked like a grand bedroom, perhaps the old Lord Governor's place. Half a dozen slim bodies lay curled up in the sheets of a bed that could have held a whole squad in comfort. Their throats were all slashed, their bodies soaked in dried blood. I overlooked them and continued my sweep of the room. Several figures stood in the shadows. They pulled away from the walls and the curtains that draped about the windows as we entered. Each one drew a pair of long, gleaming blades.

"Contact!"

I shot the first one dead before it could move. Then the others leapt forward and set about with their swords. The melee was short and brutal. The creatures were wreathed in shadow so that all we could see was their eyes. It made them no harder to kill. I blocked one stroke with my hot shot. The blade cut through my underslung and chipped the muzzle. Twisting the rifle, I wrenched the blade free and struck the creature with my rifle butt. It did not make a noise, but faded to wisps of smoke as my hand passed through. Another sprang up in its place. I took a risk and headbutted the creature. It dropped like a stone.

They did not leave evidence as they fell. When Lord Verne rent the last asunder we found ourselves standing in the room with no evidence of the battle. Only that of our own blood lying in little spots on the floor. I took a quick inventory of the party. Everyone remained.

"Search the room, find where he went."

I went immediately to the back of the bed and began looking for some kind of hidden panel. The movable-bed-escape-route was cliché for a reason. It was a solid bet that a man of this importance would have installed such a thing.

"**It is not there**."

The voice was so soft and feminine that I started in surprise. Spinning around, I drew my sidearm and leveled it on the speaker. It was one of the throat-slashed women. She was sitting up in the bed with vacant, filmy eyes. Her head turned in my direction, moving with the deliberate slowness of a body possessed. Everyone in the room was staring.

"Who are you?"

"**I have no name. That who I was is gone long ago.**"

"Lord Verne?" I looked to him for advice. He was studying the body with a severe expression, arms tucked across his chest. The noble Ecclesiarch and Sisters were aiming their weapons and glaring with unadulterated spite. I understood that reaction. It was mine too. This thing, whatever it was, was a monstrosity.

"Why would you speak to me?"

"**I feel your unpresence. It is like a cold wind in the midst of a fire. You are one of the Ungifted.**"

I said nothing. Lord Verne came to my side and faced the thing. She did not look towards him.

"What are you? Are you a daemon?"

"**As your flesh knows us. My sisters served the Master. He promised us freedom from the Warp. We gave him power in exchange for these forms to wear.**"

"You possessed these women."

"**We wore them to give the Master service. But he lied; he did not intend to give us freedom. He slew my sisters.**"

"You deserved it" I spat. "Flaming little shits. Where did he go?"

"**The Master speaks falsehoods. That way leads to death.**" A hand rose and pointed towards a dresser. "**The true path is there.**"

I exchanged a look with Lord Verne. Adin limped over and checked. After a moment he pressed something and the dresser slid to the side to reveal a small passage.

"Why would you tell us this?"

"**The Master returned my sisters to the Void. He has vengeance awaiting him.**"

"Works for me." I shot the creature in the forehead. Rotted brain matter spewed out on the sheets and it flopped limp across the others. No one complained. Turning to Lord Verne, I holstered my sidearm and headed for the passage. Sister Cammi cut in front of me. She drew her bolt pistol and headed down the way. I followed her at a trot.

"Nice to have a shield up front."

She looked back at me and snarled something along the lines of a warning to shut up.

The passage led for a good half kilometer before opening up to a large, dusty field. Shechem was on the far side, surrounded by fifty cultists. They stood about him in the shape of an eight-pointed star. The chanting could be heard from where we stood.

We did not give them the chance to notice us. Our guns blazed as we charged the cult. Cultists began to fall in small clusters, and the chanting diminished. But it was not enough, and we were running out of ammunition. My hot shot clicked dry. Slinging it over my shoulder, I began firing with my sidearm even as the others slipped their weapons away in favor of other options.

It was too late. I felt the thrumming rise in the ground as Shechem rose into the air. His body began to spin in circles. A blackish light began to pour out of his body and a different, alien voice began to fill the air. It was a terrible voice, one that wailed of death and destruction and hopelessness. A burst of energy shot out and struck one of the Sisters. She vanished in a puff of ash and smoke. Her chainsword fell to the ground. I snatched it up in stride and primed the blade.

More bursts of energy began to shoot out of Shechem's body. One slapped me straight in the face. The energy washed over me with such brute force that I was thrown back despite my Blank dampening. Pain of a kind I had never felt jolted my body and I felt, for the first time in my life: psychic pain.

I must have screamed, but when I came to I was sprinting for the tornadic storm encircling Shechem's body. Another burst shot out, and the energy flowed around me like water over a rock. Sister Cammi fired her last bolt shell and killed two cultists that stood side by side. The round tore straight through one and exploded inside the other. Energy began to lash out and consume the remaining cultists. One by one they exploded into fine misty shadows.

When the last one fell the alien voice reached a crescendo. Shechem's scream reached through the noise and his body disintegrated. A new creature, a towering monster, sprang out of the void left behind. It landed on weak and developing feet that continued to grow even as it stretched forward.

I had never seen one before, but I recognized the size. It was hardly full grown, but it towered over the Sisters as if they were children. It was a greater Daemon. No, it was a Chaos Daemon Prince. It could not have been mistaken for anything but. I felt a pang of fear. Worrying about it was one thing. Facing it was entirely another.

"Have no fear! The Emperor is with us!"

Josephus hurtled past us, his speed incited by the sight of such a monstrosity. His massive chainsword rose above his shoulders as he charged. The Daemon glanced at him with a face that constantly shifted and whirled about as it sought to find a settlement. One partially formed arm stretched out towards the priest. A light-devouring whip shot out and cut the priest in half at the waist.

"Frack! Who's got firepower?"

Sister Cammi and the remaining Sister charged into melee combat. Our only hope was to kill it before it finished forming itself. They tore into the creature with righteous fury, but their blades did not harm it. It was regenerating too quickly, and wounds closed up as quickly as they formed. Sister Cammi died first as the Daemon crushed her in its claws. Her death wail was lost in the creature's triumphant roar.

Lady Kairi stumbled in to take the woman's place. Her chainsword hacked away at the more finished parts of the creature, doing some real but superficial damage. I tried to get in behind her to help. A massive backhand grazed us both and sent us flying dozens of feet in the air.

"**YOU FOOLS! YOU CANNOT HARM ME. I WAS AT THE FIRST SPARK OF EXISTENCE, AND I WILL BE WHEN IT ENDS. SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO YOUR DEATH!**"

Adin stood his ground beside me, firing relentlessly at the Daemon's head. It hardly did any damage, but it drew attention. I threw myself to the side as the Daemon loped forward to take a swing at him. He dove to the side and I found myself staring at its underside. I drew and fired without hesitating.

The Daemon roared as the weapon caused unexpected pain. It whirled around to stare down at me. Taking in a mighty breath, it roared down at me with a powerful psychic bellow that should have turned me into dust.

That wasn't what happened. The power struck me with an intensity that should have overwhelmed my abilities and killed me anyway. It didn't happen that way. Something ripped in my mind and excruciating pain washed through my body. My throat closed and I couldn't even scream. Thousands of tiny daggers stabbed at my nerves and it threatened to break me. Ice cold replaced the pain. It rolled out of me in waves, wiping away the psychic energy. It was Blank power like I had never felt.

The Daemon suffered. It recoiled away from me with an anguished shriek. Its skin bubbled and boiled from its proximity. The creature's tongue rolled back in its mouth as it melted away.

Lady Kairi was screaming beside me. Blood streamed from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. She rolled over and over, hoarse shrieks barely heard over the Daemon's roar. Her body jerked in vicious spasms. I felt the power radiating even stronger as the Daemon tried to take a step towards me. Its hand that reached for me shriveled. Growling in anger, it drew a massive broad-bladed axe and brought it down in an overhand chop. I rolled to the side, away from Lady Kairi, and punched it in the ankle. Bad decision. Its skin cracked and bled, but the touch burned my hand and made me numb to the shoulder.

"Get clear" I tried to shout. I could barely speak, and what came out was a mere whisper. Lord Verne struggled into the fray, coughing up blood with every breath. He lashed out and stabbed the Daemon multiple times before the Daemon spun and took his hand off. The Inquisitor Lord's face went white as his arm melted into ash. He managed one final shot with his inferno pistol before he turned into a pile of dust.

"Somebody kill this fracker" Adin shouted. He dashed in and scooped up the inferno pistol. Before the Daemon could get him he scrambled back and started firing. A dozen Cadian expletives surged from his mouth. "Anybody!"

I surged to my feet and rushed away from the Daemon. Grabbing Sister Cammi's power sword, I charged the Daemon from behind and struck at its back. The first blow gouged a deep gash in its side. The second took a finger off. The Daemon lashed about drunkenly. It was weakened by my very presence, and that registered somewhere in my subconscious as a spark of hope. We had a chance to kill it. We could do-

Its battered hand caught me and hurled me away. In the next moment it turned on the last Sister and skewered her like a pig on a spit. She hurled a krak grenade into its face as she died. The explosion washed over the now-formed armor. A long, healed tongue licked out and ripped the skin from her face. She died in agony.

"Too… strong" Lady Kairi whimpered. She had pulled herself up to her knees. Striking at its knee, she watched her chainsword shatter against its armored flesh. Blood flowed freely down her face and throat. She raised one weak hand and pointed to me. "Kane…"

A hail of gunfire erupted from the direction of the palace. Twenty Justicars charged out of the passage. A familiar, bloody figure led the way. Sergeant Opryszko's ragged voice crackled in my earpiece.

"Saving your ass, shiny? This is starting to become a habit."

Their hail of concentrated fire set the Daemon reeling. It howled and threw its arm up to cover its face. I have hope for a moment that we could beat it. Then the men drew closer, and those hopes were dashed. A few dozen men, dented and scratched and close to death. They all bore signs of battle and wept from a dozen wounds. This was not reinforcement, this was the pitiful remains of the Justicar army. They were the few that had pressed through the enemy and fought their way to our side. They were not going to last.

As if to hammer the point in, the Daemon dropped its arm and bellowed at the men. A rippling wave of psychic energy boiled their bones into mush, and eight dropped away from the charge. A crack of its whip slew three more in the time it took them to take three steps. The numbers dropped away so fast I could hardly believe it. But the men did not falter. Sergeant Opryszko was running with a bad limp, but he survived the Daemon's attacks and hurled himself at the monster with a demolitions charge in his hands. The explosion threw the Daemon on its back. Nothing remained of the Phantine sergeant but a bloody rain.

I took a step forward and staggered. The wound in my gut had to be gushing now. I felt the wetness creeping down to my legs. It hurt to stand. My head was swimming from pain and coldness. When I blinked I found myself lying face down on the ground. The Daemon approached and snarled. It stood well over twenty feet now, and wings were sprouting from its back. The sword in its hand could have sliced through a Leman Russ without slowing down. And its aura began to push back mine. The cold began to grow warm, and in that warmth I found myself growing drowsy and sluggish. The others were affected worse. Adin fell over on his side, eyes closed and barely breathing. The Daemon had not even touched him.

Every inch of me hurt as I tried to crawl to my knees. My arm gave out and I collapsed. The Daemon's foot landed just inches away. Fully formed now, it was devouring my aura and utterly unaffected. It lifted its sword and growled what might have been a curse.

"**A FOOLISH DEFIANCE. I WILL ENJOY FEASTING ON YOUR SOUL**."

"Come and get it, you fracked up piece of sh-"

A shadow passed over us. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but for the three thunderclap explosions that followed a moment later. The ground quaked so hard my body leapt off the ground. A cacophony of bolters opened fire all around, interspersed with the whooshing roar of flamers and meltas. Lights flashed at the same time, and I felt a new, overwhelming source of psychic energy come rushing to the field.

"**Destroy the daemon! To me, brothers!**"

The vox-filtered voice boomed through the cacophony of death. A powerful presence was making itself known, and I felt the cold rise up like a brand new spring. It gushed out of me so badly I choked. The Daemon might have felt the rising Blank again, but I couldn't tell. My head felt so heavy… and the others had it under control.

_No, frack that_ I thought to myself. I fought to my feet, and crawled towards the dropped inferno pistol. The roar of the guns was so powerful I couldn't even begin to count them. Other, stranger weapons began to fill the air. Twin sonic booms that fired in rapid succession, the snapping fury of psychic bolts.

A rising chant filled my ears. I did not understand it, but it sang from a hundred vox-speakers and it filled me with dread. Deep red boots clanked down by my face. I grabbed blindly for purchase and pulled myself up against its knee. Lifting the inferno pistol, I joined in on the barrage.

The Daemon was being blown to pieces, bit by bit. Thousands of rounds of fire chipped away at it, every shot landing where it was meant to, digging deep and fatal furrows into its skin. A blue-armored figure stood before the Daemon and engaged it with a force spear. The man's unhelmeted face seemed to glow blindingly. When I tried to look at his face, my head hurt and a pounding rose in my temples.

The Daemon fell with a long, drawn out cry that shook my bones. It smoldered as it melted into the ground. The chanting droned on louder and louder until my eardrums felt like they would burst. My vision went white, and I curled up in a ball. Eventually the shooting stopped. I found out later the whole encounter lasted about thirty seconds.

Faint, muffled boot steps echoed in my mind. Something was drawing nearer, a burning light through my eyelids that made me want to shrink away. Psychic cold tickled my burned skin. My mind was too unfocused and dull to push it away. The being advanced towards me and all I could think of was that I wanted it closer. I reached out for it, begging my muscles to follow. It was only a few feet…

* * *

><p>The room was dull and gunmetal grey. Three lights ran across the ceiling in a parallel course. It was a harsh light, hurt my eyes when I looked anywhere near them. Restraints kept my arms and legs down at my sides. They were painfully tight, but padded. I craned my neck to look around. The room was a medical room, a shipboard medical room. My heart began to race as I looked for identifying symbols. The room was utterly devoid of anything that could have identified it with a ship or an organization.<p>

A dozen different tubes were plugged into me, filling me with all kinds of healing fluids. They were ones I had not seen before, things that did not exist among normal, or even privileged, Guard units. Whatever it was, I assumed it was working. I could feel the fingers on my burned hand. When I tried to crack my neck I felt something big and metallic wrapped around my throat.

I lay there for what must have been hours. After a long time the door opened with a loud hiss of decompressing air. It was behind me, and try as I could there was no way to see who had entered. The only clue I had was the near-silent whine of repulsors drawing closer. A large black object floated into view. It took me a moment of staring to recognize it. When I did, my heart sank like a heavy weight in a calm sea. The force chair swiveled to face me as it came to halt beside the bed.

"**Senior Sergeant Leon Kane**." The vox-speakers were terrifyingly flat and toneless. "**So nice of you to finally join us. Your trial is ready to begin.**"

"What fracking trial?" My voice was weak and cracked, dry from a long time of not using it.

"**Lord Verne's records have been examined. You shall stand trial for the murder of two members of the Adeptas Sororitas and for the charge of heresy. I, Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor, will oversee your trial. Do you have anything to say in your defense?**"


End file.
